Journey To Nowhere
by ButterflyGirl89
Summary: All Jo wants to do is get home after a hard days work, instead she finds herself carjacked and being forced at gunpoint to drive miles and miles. The person holding the gun at her is a vicious criminal and Jo can only try to leave clues for the team to find and hope they can save her in time. If not it might be up to her to fight her own way out of the dangers she's trapped in. JAC
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Jo has just finished working a scene when she gets into her car, fully expecting a quick drive home. After a hard day's work all she wants to do is have a bath and get in bed. Instead she finds herself carjacked and being forced to drive at gun point. She has no idea where she is driving to she just knows that the person holding a gun to her is a vicious killer. All she can do is pray the team can find her as she tries to leave clues behind for them to find. **

**Eventually, all she can do is hope they find her in time.**

**A/N: This takes place after last season finale's events. Mac is now healed and back at work. Also he no longer with Christine because although the actress who plays her is fabulous I think her character is just a waste of screen time. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on CSI: NY.**

**Chapter 1**

As she took another look around, Jo couldn't help but think that the small Diner that sat in the corner of the large parking lot near to the freeway now resembled a bomb site. She'd been here in the past and it was a sweet little place that served great food and some of the best coffee in New York.

There was glass and rubble scattered all over the floor. Bottle of ketchup and mustard lay on the floor, their contents spilling out onto the floor. The car that had crashed through the glass fronted Diner was still parked half in half out of the demolished place.

The car was only a small sedan but it had caused massive impact. The guns that the robbers had used had also caused massive devastation. A young girl, no more than seventeen, who worked in the Diner lay sprawled on the floor, her eyes glazed over. The blood that had pooled beneath her was drying out, making it sticky. There was a chef in the back who had been killed as he finished clearing up for the night. Two guests who hadn't yet left were also slumped dead in the corner. _It was a sad sight at almost midnight on a Tuesday night._

Jo was crouched beside the young girl, just finishing up bagging her right hand. It disgusted Jo to have to do this, the girl was so young. "This isn't fair, she's practically a baby!" she said to Mac who was crouched on the other side of the girl's body.

"It's never fair when innocent people are killed, Jo." Mac added.

Jo sighed as she glanced down at the girl one last time. Mac was the first to get to his feet and he stepped around the girl's body and held his hand out to assist Jo. She placed her hand in his and let him practically pull her to her tired feet. _God, she was exhausted._

It was something Mac clearly noticed. "Jo, we're pretty much done here. Why don't you go home?" he said as they made their way towards the front of the Diner.

"Because we aren't _completely_ done here." she stated. "As soon as we are I'll go home." she said.

Mac just glared at her. "Jo, go home."

"Mac, really, I'm fine." she protested.

"It wasn't a request, Jo." he told her with a stubborn smile.

She could only smile back at him. "You 'know you can be really bossy sometimes!"

"That's my job." he reminded her. "Now go home!" he said with another smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"You're the boss." she said as she tried not to grin like a fool.

Her feelings towards him had been growing stronger and stronger since he had been shot. It had shocked her how much the thought of losing him scared her. She knew what she felt for him now went much further than respect and friendship. She wondered if he felt the same or if she was just setting herself up for heartbreak.

It was no wonder she wasn't sleeping at night - between worrying over her growing emotional feelings towards her boss and having nightmares about John Curtis…_again…_ "I think I'm going to go home, take a long relaxing hot bubble bath and get to bed." She decided.

"You can't imagine how great that sounds to me." Mac replied.

Jo smiled as she was sure she saw a flirty twinkle in his eyes. _Wishful thinking, Josephine! _ she silently chastised herself.

"Night, Mac."

"Goodnight, Jo!" he said and watched as she turned on her heels and left.

He watched as she wished goodnight to Flack on her way out of the door. He was tempted to run out after her just so he could say goodnight again, just so he could spend another minute staring into her stunning brown eyes. _Get back to work Taylor,_ he silently snapped at himself.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo threw her kit into the back of her black SUV and shut the door. She couldn't hold in a yawn as she walked round to the front of the car and pulled the door open. She was about to climb in when she heard someone shout her name.

It was Sid and as Jo turned to face him she watched with sad eyes as a gurney was loaded into the back of the Coroners van. She knew the body inside the black bag belonged to that of the young girl. She met Sid in between the space between her SUV and the van.

"Horrible case." he said.

"Tell me about it." Jo said as she watched the van doors being slammed shut. "Please let me know as soon as you've done the autopsy, Sid. I really wanna catch this prick."

"I will do, Jo." he said, admiring her determination, even if it was driven by anger.

"Thanks, Sid. Goodnight."

"Night, Jo." Sid said before he walked back towards the Diner, ready to help transport the next body out to the Coroners van.

**~0~0~**

Jo climbed into her SUV and started up the noisy engine. _She really just wanted to be home right now. _At the most it would only be a twenty five minute drive home. It was late now and so the traffic was much easier to get through. She was seriously debating cracking open a bottle of wine when she got in, to enjoy in her bath. After the hectic week she'd had she certainly deserved a drink or two.

She pulled out onto the street and began making her way down the round. She suddenly became aware of the smell of cigarette smoke around her. No one had been smoking at the scene so she couldn't understand why it smelled so strongly on her. It was almost like there was a cigarette lit in her car. She looked down and a chill ran down her spine as she noticed a cigarette stump in the small tray by the handbrake.

Her eyes shot up to rear view mirror and she screamed as she saw a set of cold dark eyes glaring back at her. A second later she felt the cold barrel of a gun press into the nape of her neck. The man in the back seat of her car sat forward and growled into her ear. "Be smart, lady and you might just survive this." _He never took his eyes of hers in the mirror._

Jo pulled her eyes away from the rear view mirror and tried to concentrate on the road ahead of her but it was hard. Her hands were shaking wildly and her heart was pounding hard against her chest. She was desperately trying to think of a plan to get herself out of this, preferably without her being shot.

**TBC**

**Short chapter but if you want more, let me know and I shall post the next (longer) chapter as soon as possible. **

**Thanks so much for reading. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for all the reviews and alerts so far. I really appreciate people giving this story a chance.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on CSI: NY.**

**Chapter 2**

Jo was trying to stay calm as she continued to drive, taking all the turns the man in back seat instructed her too. The barrel of his gun was still pressed into the back of her neck. She was trying to work out how quickly she could reach down and grab her own gun. However, she knew now wasn't the time, he'd likely shoot her before her hand was anywhere near it.

She glanced into the rear view mirror and studied the man who she could see in it. She began taking in as many details as she could; approximately forty five years old, short length dark hair could be seen under a Yankees cap and he had dark brown eyes that looked cold and menacing. His thin face was unshaven though the man appeared otherwise tidy. However, his clothes were rather baggy on his slim frame and….

"You really sure you wanna get a good look at me?!" he snapped interrupting her thoughts.

The cold eyes that Jo had just made a mental note of locked onto her eyes in the mirror. She saw something in them that scared her. Immediately she pulled her eyes away from his and turned to face the road again. She couldn't help but flinch as she felt his free hand pull her jacket aside.

"What are you doing?!" she snapped at him, looking down to see and in doing so causing the SUV to swerve a little.

"Pull over." he spat at her.

_Shit, he'd found her gun!_

"What?" Jo asked, her heart pounding in her chest. _Why did he want her to pull over?_

"Pull over!"

They had only been driving for about half an hour and were now out on the freeway somewhere. At this time of night the stretch they were on was practically deserted. This was the type of place where a body would be found in the ditch that ran alongside the freeway. She really didn't want to stop here.

_She didn't want to be the body her colleagues would have to find in a ditch in a week's time._

"Pull over or I'll make you!" he snapped as he jabbed the barrel of her own gun against the top of her thigh.

"Okay!" Jo growled at him and made a sharp turn onto the side of the road. The car bounced violently along the hard shoulder before it came to a jolted stop. She was pissed off and if she was about to be killed here, _which she presumed was_, she wasn't about to do it enthusiastically or willingly. _She wanted him to know she was pissed off._

He quickly climbed out of the car and tucked Jo's gun securely into the back of his trousers as he stepped by her door. He quickly pulled her door open before she could do a thing to stop him. He reached in so he could pull the keys outs of the ignition. One gun was still aimed on Jo so she couldn't try anything even though she wanted to.

She continued to stare out of the front window, at the empty road ahead. She never saw the man tuck the other gun into the back of his trousers as well so she didn't expect it when he reached into the car, grabbed a handful of her hair and the top of her arm and ripped her out of her seat.

She could only yelp in pain as he tightened his grip in her hair and slammed her, face first, against the car. His one arm was enough to pin her there, his hand still tangled in her hair, pulling it down at an awkward and painful angle. His free hand pulled her jacket from off of her and threw it onto the back seat of the car. She wanted to scream in frustration when she suddenly felt him pull her handcuffs from off of her belt.

He let go of her hair so he could twist her arms behind her back and slap the handcuffs on her, much tighter than was necessary. He the spun her around to face him and tangled his hand back into her hair, this time his grip was much looser and didn't hurt her at all but it pissed her off to be pinned to her car by him.

"Do you have any other guns on you?" he asked her.

Jo just shook her head as best she could.

"Any other weapons?" he growled at her.

"No," Jo told him, her voice a little shaky.

As if not totally convinced by her answer he began to run his hands over her as he searched for weapons. He didn't touch her inappropriately but his hands running over her body was the last thing she wanted. She was about to tell him to back off when he took a step back from her, convinced now his pat down had revealed nothing except her wallet.

"Good girl. See when you're honest with me you'll see that I'm a nice guy. But lie to me, and…well…you'll see that I can be not such a nice guy."

"You mean to say you're not about to kill me here?" she asked.

"Do you want me to?" he asked her.

Jo just shook her head.

"Then, no." he said as he casually shrugged his shoulders. "To be honest I have a long drive ahead of me, and I don't know about you but I think a long journey always seem to go much quicker when you have company with you."

"So once we get to where you want to go…then what?" she asked.

"If you've behaved yourself, I'll let you go. Do me wrong and….well…I guess I will just have to have the radio to keep me company."

Jo just looked at him and figured if he was telling the truth and she could just get through a long journey with him all would be okay. She knew that there was every chance she could be rescued before they got too far. Tyler would soon realise she wasn't coming home like she said she would to relive him from babysitting duty. She hoped he would alert Mac and that Mac would track the GPS on her car or her phone. She hoped they would come straight after her and release her from this nightmare.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as he dug his hand into her jeans pocket and pulled out a small set of handcuff keys. He unclipped the cuff on her right wrist and then pushed her back into the driver's seat. She watched as he securely fixed the vacant cuff around the steering wheel, meaning that only Jo's right arm was really free. This one she would need for changing gears.

He slammed the car door shut and walked around and climbed into the passenger's seat beside Jo. He reached across Jo and buckled her in and put the keys into the ignition and started up the engine. He then buckled his own belt and kept a firm grip on the hand brake.

He turned to face Jo and said, "I want you to drive as long as you can without feeling tired, the last thing I need is for you to fall asleep behind the wheel and crash the fucking car. You start feeling like you're gonna fall asleep you tell me and we can switch places."

"Do I get to cuff you to the steering wheel then?" Jo asked sarcastically.

To her surprise he laughed, "I don't think so beautiful. Even as much as the idea of me you and a pair of handcuff turns me on. Now, pull out and keep following the freeway until I say otherwise." he told her as he took his hand off the handbrake.

Jo did as she was instructed, trying to ignore his last comment. She pulled out and began cruising down the empty freeway.

"That's it beautiful, nice and easy."

Jo rolled her eyes at him and tried to pay attention to the road. She no longer felt the slightest bit tired and she guessed it had something to do with the adrenaline running through her system.

She could see him from the corner of her eyes going through her wallet. It pissed her off more so. She felt her heart skip a beat when he pulled out a small snapshot of her, Ellie and Tyler.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" he said holding the picture up.

Jo ignored him, she wasn't about to have a conversation with the man if she could help it.

"I asked you a question. It's only polite you answer me." he told her sharply.

Jo suddenly remembered his words, '_behave and you'll live'_. She figured she'd entertain his questions for now. "They're me children." she told him.

She turned to watch his reply. He was studying the picture. He held it up by her face with a confused look on his face. "Well this young man looks just like you, but this pretty little thing doesn't quite have the same look…"

"She's adopted." she snapped as she tried to grab the picture from his hand, but he was too quick and pulled his hand back so he could continue to stare at the picture.

"Sweet. Could you not have any more of your own?" he asked.

Jo scoffed at his personal question but decided to answer in some sort of way, "She needed a home and I was more than happy to take her in. As far as I'm concerned she's mine."

"Well that's real kind of you, beautiful. Real Samaritan like…"

"Jo!" she snapped.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked in an amused tone.

"My name is Jo, not beautiful."

"Okay, Jo it is." he said. "You can call me Brett." he told her.

Jo sighed and concentrated once more on the road. Her attention was pulled away as he spoke again, "You' know, Jo, that's a real pretty name for a beautiful woman."

Jo tried to pretend like she hadn't heard him and just stared out at the road. She thought about her phone which was in her jacket pocket, her jacket that had been thrown onto the back seat._ 'Hurry up and find me already someone.' _she thought to herself.

_For now all she could do is drive..._

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo found herself becoming more and more tired. She couldn't understand how her mind could possibly be begging her for sleep when it should have been wanting to stay fully alert due to the fact there was a man beside her holding a gun to her.

She glanced down at the dash-board and noticed that the tank was showing as nearly empty. She quickly looked back up and forced herself not to smile. _This is perfect_ she was thinking to herself. She was hoping that Brett wouldn't notice and that they could just keep going until they ran out of gas and…

"Fuck! Why are we running out of gas?" Brett yelled at her, bringing her out of her own thoughts.

_Damn-it_ she thought to herself. She'd been hoping this would have been her ticket to freedom, but now he noticed he was sure to do something about it.

"I asked you a question!" he snapped.

"Because I haven't filled the tank today that's why!" she yelled back at him.

"For fuck's sake, Jo!" he yelled as he hit the dash board making her jump out of her skin almost.

Sarcastically she yelled, "I'm sorry, if I had known you were gonna carjack me and make me drive to the other end of the planet I would have filled up!"

Brett just laughed at her. "You got a real smart mouth, Jo!" he said with a smile. "Look, we'll just have to stop off for gas. You got some money in your wallet?"

"Not much."

"You're starting to piss me off, Jo!"

"I'm the victim here not your god-damn accomplice!" she snapped at him, "Don't expect me to be prepared for this!"

"Well it's not a problem, I have cash, lots of it in fact." he said with a smirk. "Pull over at the next gas stop."

**~0~0~0~0~**

Only ten minutes had passed when Jo pulled up outside the gas station and just in time as the car was running on fumes. Jo turned the engine off by the pump and turned to look at Brett. "You want me to fill her up?" she asked.

"I'm not stupid as I might look, Jo. You can stay here while I fill up the tank."

Jo didn't bother arguing with him but it had been worth a shot. Still cuffed to the steering wheel there was no way she could even attempt to escape and the place was so quiet that no one was about for her to try to get help from.

She watched as Brett walked out of the gas station and back over to the car. He climbed in and smiled at her. "Ready to go." he asked.

Jo had thought of something while he had been in the gas station and decided to put her new plan into action. "No I'm not, I need to use the bathroom." she said.

"Wait till we get somewhere quiet and you can do it at the side of the road."

Jo just scoffed. "No, I'm not some dog. Look, please, just let me use the bathroom." she begged. "It's not like there's even anyone around."

Brett clearly didn't like the idea, but what choice did he have. He knew Jo was right, there really was no one around. He climbed back out of the SUV, walked around the front of it and pulled her door open, careful to shield how she was cuffed to the steering wheel with his body, just in case anyone did happen to be looking. The moment she was un-cuffed Jo reached up to rub her wrist. It was red and throbbing from where the cuff had bit into her flesh.

She flinched when she felt the barrel of the gun pressed against her cheek. Her heart began to pound in her chest. "I swear to God, Jo, you try anything in here and I will shoot you, I have your driver's license so I know where you live, so after killing you I'll drive to your home and I'll shoot your children. Understand me?"

Jo just nodded. The thought of him hurting her children made her feel physically sick. "Okay." she said and turned to look up at him, offering him a convincing look.

"Good girl." he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the car.

"Can I get my jacket?" she asked knowing her phone was still in one of the pockets.

"No." he told her.

"But I'm cold." she said.

"Then we'll walk fast." he snapped and stepped to the side of her and wrapped his arm behind her back. He slipped his hand under her shirt and held the gun against her back. "If anyone asks, we're husband and wife taking a little road trip. Okay?"

"Yes." Jo said after he poked her in the back with the gun.

They stepped into the gas station and walked through to the back. There was a small Diner there, not a place Jo would ever want to eat at but apparently two truckers didn't mind it. The men were both big built and both far too involved in the huge plate of burgers and fries in front of them to notice Jo and Brett.

Brett pushed Jo right over to the door labelled toilets. He pushed her through the door and into a small hallway. On one side of it was a door labelled Ladies, on the other side was a door labelled Gents. "Hurry up!" he spat at her as he opened the Ladies toilet and glanced around. There were only two empty cubicles and a sink and a mirror in there. "You got five minutes and then I'm coming in to get you." he snapped as he pushed her through the door.

Jo heard him shut the door behind her and after taking in a big shaky breath she glanced around and prayed there may be a window she could escape out of, of course there was nothing. She ducked into one of the cubicles and wanted to sit down, she suddenly felt so dizzy, but the toilet was disgusting so instead she leant against the wall.

"Breathe, Jo!" she told herself, "Keep calm. Think!"

She needed to tell someone she was in trouble but her jacket was still in the back of the car which meant so was her phone_. If he had just let her grab it._ She needed to think of something else, but she had very few options and each minute she spent trying to think of new options was a minute closer to Brett bursting in and pulling her out of the bathroom.

She walked out of the cubicle and stood in front of the sink. She splashed some cold water over her neck and tried to steady her breathing. She noticed a rather grubby looking bar of soap on the side of the sink. It gave her an idea.

She grabbed hold of it even though it made her skin crawl to do so. It was disgusting and looked like it had been there for years. She put it to the mirror above the sink and began using it to write. _'Help! Kidnapped!'_ This was followed by her registration plate number.

Satisfied, she put the soap back down, washed her hands and walked over to the door. She would need to slip out of it quickly to avoid Brett seeing her note on the mirror. She opened the door and nearly jumped a mile to see Brett standing there with his elbow leaning against the doorframe, his face right in hers.

"That was longer than five minutes." he said with a sadistic smile.

Jo tried to push him back, desperate to get him away from the toilet, but she saw his eyes dart towards the mirror and knew he had seen what she had wrote.

Brett held onto the door frame and leaned back before kicking his leg out. It connected hard with Jo's stomach sending her flying backwards before she crashed to the floor, cracking her head on the cold hard tiles.

Brett stepped into the bathroom and stepped across Jo who was holding her head, waiting for it to stop spinning, and trying to catch her breath from where Brett had kicked the wind out of her.

"You, know Jo, I really thought you and I were on the same page here. You seemed smart. I told you do as I say and this would all end fine, but what do you do? You fucking piss me off!" he yelled at her as he used his sleeve to smudge the writing until it was nothing but a messy smear on the mirror.

He stepped over Jo and reached down, grabbing her shirt he pulled her to her feet only to slam her up against the wall. "Get it through your head now, no one is going to find you! No one is going to come help you. And if I think for a second someone is I will shoot you before they get to you. Get me?"

Jo just nodded.

"Good girl. Now, because I like you I'm gonna give you another chance." he said as he let go of her.

He ripped her away from the wall and with the gun tucked under her shirt and pressed against her back again he led her out of the toilet and back to the car.

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading. Please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. Hope you like this chapter. Sorry it's taken so long to update.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**Chapter 3**

Tyler was stood in Jo's apartment, in front of the living room window. He checked his watch again and wondered where his Mother could have gotten to. When she had asked him to babysit she had told him she wouldn't be home too late.

It was well beyond _"too late"_ now and he was beginning to get worried. Not only because she was late but because Ellie was sick. She had been quiet all night he had noticed but she had dashed out of her room only an hour ago and had barely made it to the bathroom when she began throwing up.

Doing the only thing he could, Tyler had carried his little sister over to the couch and placed her down on it and placed a large mixing bowl beside her in case she had to be sick again, which she had, twice. He had a blanket wrapped around her but she was still shivering and complaining she was cold, despite being burning hot to the touch. He had no idea what to do for the best.

Realising it was time he tried calling her again he pulled out his phone and dialled Jo's number again. He couldn't help but sigh when after a few rings it went to answer phone. "Mom, it's Tyler…again. Look, where are you? Ellie's sick. Please hurry up and get home, or just call me so I know everything is okay. Love you, Mom…Bye…"

He shoved his cell phone back into his pocket and turned away from the window to face Ellie just in time to see her throw up again, this time missing the bowl.

Once she was done she looked up at him, "Sorry." she said sheepishly.

He could only smile at her. There was no way he couldn't be angry with her when she was sick. "It's okay, sis." he told her before he went to the kitchen to get something to clean up with.

In the kitchen he suddenly thought of something, _someone else he could try ringing._ However, first he tried ringing Jo's office phone, just in case. Again he got no answer. Going for his last option he went to his emergency contacts list and dial Mac Taylor.

After only a few rings Mac answered. "Hey, Mac, it's Tyler." he said.

**~0~0~**

Mac was in his office sat at his desk. He was a little shocked that Tyler was ringing him. "Hi, Tyler. Everything okay?" he asked trying to hide the shock from his voice.

"No, not really. Is my Mom with you? I really need to speak to her."

Mac was sure he had heard him wrong. "What did you say?" he asked.

"Is my Mom with you?"

Mac glanced at his watch, panic suddenly began to wash over him, a horrible feeling started to swell in his stomach. "Tyler, your Mom left our crime scene almost two hours ago. She should have been home ten minutes later at the most."

"Well, Mac, she's not here, and I've tried calling and calling her but I keep getting no answer." Tyler said.

Mac couldn't help but notice the panic in his voice. "Okay, look Tyler, I'll try calling her. I'll let you know as soon as I've spoke to her. Is everything okay there?"

"Not really, Ellie's sick and I'm useless at this sort of thing." Tyler told him.

"Okay, I have a friend who is a Doctor. I'll send him over." he said, on about Hawkes. "Speak to you soon." he said before he hung up.

He then decided to try ringing Jo's cell phone, just in case she answered. It rang and rang, but he knew after the first unanswered ring that she wasn't able to answer it.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Brett pushed Jo towards her SUV, he never heard her phone ringing in her jacket on the back seat and it stopped by the time he actually opened the door.

He pushed Jo in through the driver's-side door, shoving her right across on to the passenger's seat. He latched one of the cuffs around her wrist and put it through the grab handle on the door. He then grabbed Jo's other wrist and cuffed that one too. _She was going nowhere and she knew it_. Just in case anyone was to look in Brett grabbed her jacket off the back seat and lay it over her arms, hiding the fact she was cuffed.

Jo just scowled at him as he put her seatbelt on her, with a smile he said, "Safety at all times, Jo. You never know if I have to stop suddenly or not and if I do then I don't want you to go flying through the windscreen." he said, "I wouldn't want you to mess up that beautiful face." he added as he brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek.

She pulled away from him and turned to look out of the window. Brett just sighed and settled into his seat. He put on his own belt and then started up the engine and pulled out onto the road.

**~0~0~**

For a little while they travelled in total silence. Brett concentrated on the road and Jo just continued looking out of the window. She wanted to try to forget the fact she had been carjacked, beaten up and was still in grave danger_. However, the cuffs biting into her soft flesh didn't make this possible._

After a moment Brett broke the silence, unable to take it any longer, "Jo, you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot. You see, I'm a decent guy, despite the fact that I'm a criminal."

Jo turned to look at him, her expression made it obvious that she didn't believe he was a decent guy. Her bruised and aching stomach from where he had kicked her was just another reminder that he was anything but a decent guy.

"Like I said Jo, I'm going to give you one more chance. I want there to be no more lies between us, no more bullshit escape attempts. Do as I say and I will let you go after this, I promise, but you get no more chances now. You lie to me, or anything else, just one more time and you won't be alive by the time we get to where I need to be."

Jo had no choice but to go along with him, she had to live through this. "Fine, no more lies and no more escape attempts." she agreed.

"Good." he said, "So then, tell me something about yourself, Jo? We're gonna be spending a lot of time together in this car so I would feel better if I knew they type of person you are. See, I'm not that good at reading people."

"I'm not really in the mood for conversation." she told him and turned to look back out of the window.

"Don't be like that, Jo. Just tell me about why you moved to New York, I mean your accent tells me you're not from round here?"

Jo wasn't going to bother talking to him but she figured she might as well keep him sweet. "For work." she said.

"Now was that hard? Conversation is easy, Jo, especially with because me I'm a good listener. So, do you like it here?" he asked.

"I did." she scoffed.

"What made you decide you didn't?" he asked.

"I would say getting carjacked." she replied sassily as she turned to glare at him.

He turned to meet her look but just laughed. "Well after this is all done you can return to Manhattan and get on with your life. You won't ever have to hear from me again. You can forget all about me."

_Jo could only pray he was telling the truth. _

**~0~0~0~0~**

They continued further down the road. Jo, despite what she had just said was thinking about how she could escape, how she was going to get out of this alive.

She felt sick when she suddenly felt her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket. Someone was trying to ring her and her phone was letting her know this, _loudly._ At first she thought Brett hadn't noticed but then he turned to glare to her and his angry expression told her he had in fact heard it.

"What the fuck is that?!" he yelled.

"I don't know." she lied.

"Yes you do fucking know!" he roared at her as he rummaged around in her jacket until he pulled out her phone. He looked at caller ID and saw Mac's name. "A phone?! You had a fucking phone on you all this time? You didn't think to mention it to me!" he roared.

"It's not like I've had chance to use it?" she yelled back in her own defence.

"But you would have, was that why you wanted to take your jacket with you to the bathroom?" he yelled.

"No." Jo said.

"To call for help?!" he roared at her.

"No! I forgot I had it." she tried to tell him.

"Bullshit, Jo!" he roared and pulled the car over at the side of the empty road.

He unclipped her belt and then Jo could only watch as he got out of the car, she knew it wasn't good as he stormed round the car towards her door. She tried to reach up and lock the door but she couldn't reach it, not even by using her elbow.

"Fuck…!" she muttered as she tried to pull on the door so he couldn't open it but he easily ripped it open, pulling her right out of the car and onto the ground, her arms still attached to the door so that she was practically dangling from it.

Brett reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her to her feet, ignoring her yelps of pain. Panic flooded through her as he pushed his body right against hers so his face was right in hers.

"What did I just say to you, no more bullshit and what happens?!" he yelled right in her face, his hand coming up to painfully grab hold of her face.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, "I swear to you I forgot I had it. I'm always leaving it at home."

"Somehow I doubt that, Jo. See, more lies! You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"I'm sorry." she said again, her heart beating even harder against her chest.

"You will be!" he warned her before his fist connected hard with her cheek.

He let go of her and stepped back and let her crumple to her knees in a daze. Her head was spinning and her whole face was throbbing, painfully. _It felt like it wanted to explode._

She looked up at him, ready to apologise again but all she saw was his fist coming towards her face. _Then everything went black._

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think. I go on holiday on Tuesday but if I get enough reviews I will try to update before that.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi there, sorry this update has taken so long, but I was on holiday for like two weeks and have had a crazy first week back in work. So this is the earliest I got to write and post. Hope you like it.**

**WARNING: There is a pretty dark scene at the end of this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Chapter 4**

Jo wasn't sure when she came back to the world of consciousness but she did so with a horrid headache that made her feel sick to the pit of her stomach. She forced her eyes open, her eyelids felt as heavy as lead and just trying to open them added to the throbbing in her head.

She panicked when she saw nothing but darkness. She wondered if she'd been hit hard enough to damage her sight, however as soon as she tried to sit up her head connected with something hard.

"_Shit!"_ she muttered as she held her hands on her head, it was now ringing as well as throbbing with pain. She wanted to cry or take a handful of painkillers to get it to stop. She moved her hands away and the clanking of metal told her they were cuffed together.

She took a deep breath and tried to think. _What did she remember last?_ Her phone had rang, Brett had heard it and got pissed off, he'd dragged her from the car and…_the car_…that's when she noticed the sound beneath her…._the sound of tarmac under rolling wheels_. She suddenly realised why it was dark, she was in the boot of her car.

She placed her hands on the roof of the boot and then began to pound her fists against it, "Brett!" she yelled, her voice a little shaky. As a CSI she had seen what happened, what became, of people kept in the boot of a car.

She yelled his name again and still got no reply. She felt her heart began to pound fast and hard against her chest. She took another deep breath and tried not to think about how much she hated the layout of her car, _the boot in particular_. The rest of the car was big but the boot wasn't and she was cramped. Her bruised body ached and she was dying to stretch her legs.

She also couldn't ignore the pain in her nose. She knew the son of a bitch must have punched her square in the face. He'd pummelled his fist into her face hard enough to knock her out cold. _She couldn't wait for the opportunity to return the favour._

She pounded her fists harder against the roof and yelled as loud as she could, "Brett! Let me out of here, you son of a bitch!"

She was rocked sideways as the car began to speed up. She took this as a sign that he could hear her. "Brett!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Let me out!"

She felt tears burn in her eyes as Brett turned the radio up loud, loud enough to drown out her cries. "Let me out!" she cried and pounded the roof of the boot one more time.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac had the team now gathered at the lab, minus Hawkes who was seeing to Ellie and Flack who was apparently running late. Mac was telling them what they knew so far, everyone had agreed about the same thing….that something seriously wrong had happened to Jo.

Despite Mac's best efforts to call her it seemed Jo's phone was now off and had been so for the last hour or so.

"She was last seen by Sid, leaving the crime scene. She told me she was heading straight home. She was tired. Horribly, I thought maybe she'd crashed but nothings come in over the radio, I even rang around some hospitals, she's not there."

"Do we have CCTV footage from the parking lot at the diner? Maybe it could show us what direction she went it." Danny said.

"I'm waiting for an officer to bring it over. Adam, as soon as it gets here get it analysed and tell me something useful from it." Mac ordered.

"Yes, boss." Adam replied.

Mac was about to continue when Flack ran in, a little out of breath. "Where the hell have you been?" Mac snapped irritably at him.

"Dealing with another case…. I took this from an officer on his way up." Flack said and held a small DVD case out to Mac. "It's the footage from the diner parking lot you asked for."

"I'll take that." Adam said and swiped it from his hands and ran off to his lab to start analysing it.

"Do we know anything else yet?" Flack asked.

"Nothing... Jo's phones been shut off." Lindsay told him.

"What about the tracker on her car?" he asked.

"We're working on that now." Mac told him.

"I feel so awful. She was fine when I left her. I should have watched her drive off, made sure she was okay."

"Sid, you can't blame yourself." Lindsay said.

Sid just offered her a weak smile, but his guilt didn't fade any. He hadn't seen anything happen in the parking lot so could only assume something had happened to her away from there. This still didn't make him feel any better however.

Hawkes caught their attention when he walked in. "Ellie's going to be fine. It's just a stomach bug. She's in bed and should be feeling a bit better by the morning."

"How's Tyler holding up?" Danny asked.

"He's worried, understandably. He's trying to find a sitter for Ellie so he can come down here, offer whatever help he can." Hawkes replied.

"At home with Ellie is the best place for him right now." Mac said.

"I tried telling him that." Hawkes said.

"Let's hope we find her before he gets down here." Mac said.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo continued to be thrown about in the boot as the car bounced down what she guessed was some sort of bumpy road. The ground beneath the tyres sounded wet, like mud.

She wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved as the car came to a sudden stop. The music was turned off and the roar of the engine died. She waited a moment and considered yelling to Brett, but she decided to wait it out, see what he had planned.

Suddenly she heard his voice. He was talking to someone and they were replying.

"_Everything okay?" an unknown voice asked. _

"_I'm totally lost. I'm useless at reading maps, that's usually my wife's job, but she's a little tied up right now. Can you help me?"_

Jo could only lay there and listen, she wished this person, whoever they were would run, she wanted to yell to them to do so but she knew attracting attention to herself could put them in danger, so she just continued to listen.

Brett stood there, casual and confident as ever. He was only a few feet away from the twenty something year old man he was talking to. The man stood in front of a cosy looking fire and to the far left of the man was a large recreational vehicle, that too looked cosy, _just what he would need._ He smiled politely as a stunning blonde came to the door of the RV.

"Honey, who are you talking to?" she yelled to her husband before noticing Brett standing there.

"This man's lost, baby. I'll be right in when I've helped him out."

"Okay." The woman said, never taking her eyes off Brett.

"Daddy?"

"Stay inside with your mommy, Angel, I'll be in in a moment." The man called out to his small daughter..

Brett continued to smile at the woman but it was obvious the bitch didn't trust him. _She was right not to._ He lowered his gaze and waved at a small blonde girl, no more than four, who had stepped out from behind her mother to see what was happening. Her mother wasted no time in scooping her up. Brett had to smile at the fluffy little pink onsie she was wearing. It even had a hood on that he could see, so that if the girl was to pull it up she would look like a cute little bunny. _Too bad_ he thought to himself.

"Where is it you're heading to?" the man asked Brett, distracting him from his thoughts.

Brett sighed and casually replied, "If I told you that I'd have to kill you. In fact I kinda have to kill you now."

"RUN!" Jo screamed as loud as humanly possible from the boot, banging her fists as hard as she could against the roof. "RUN!"

Her words were cut off by a two loud gunshots. This was followed by a woman's screams and this was then followed by another two gunshots. For a moment everything went silent. Then Jo heard another much smaller scream, that of a child. This was followed by another two shots…

**~0~0~0~0~**

"Mac you have to come see this!" Adam yelled as he popped his head through the door where the others were still discussing Jo's disappearance. They all chased after Adam who was running back to his lab. The moment they got there he said, "I analysed the CCTV footage, at first I thought it was going to be a waste of time, then I saw this. Watch the top right corner of Jo's car." he told them and pointed to the screen so they knew just where to look.

He hit play and they all watched as in the bottom corner of the screen Jo could just about be seen talking to Sid, however in the spot Adam had told them to focus on they watched as the car door opened, they saw no one get in but watch as it was slowly shut seconds later.

"Mac, someone got into the back of her car!" Adam pointed out.

"Can you zoom in? Did you see a face?" Mac asked, panic replacing the usually calm tone of his voice.

"Just a second…." Adam said.

They watched him work for a moment before he zoomed in on the back window of Jo's car. It wasn't the clearest of pictures but it was enough for them to see a man glance out of the window at Jo before shrinking down out of sight.

"See…" Adam began but Flack cut him off.

"Take that back and this time pause it on his face!" Flack ordered.

"What's up?" Danny asked as Adam did as he was told.

Flack leant in to get a closer look then took a step back. His hand shot over his mouth and he shook his head.

"What is it, Don?" Mac asked.

"The other case I was working on before I got here. This son of a bitch is a wanted criminal who I'm trying to find. His name is Brett Moyle. Creep has a record as long as his two arms. Theft, drugs, breaking and entering, possession of a weapon, multiple counts of rape and murder…. If Jo's with him…"

"Then we have to find her now!" Mac concluded.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo was still in shock when the boot of her car was opened. Brett reached in and pulled her out, not even trying to be careful. He began dragging her towards the RV. Jo felt the breath whoosh out of her and felt her legs crumple beneath her when she saw the bloodied body of a man lying beside the fire. Beside the blood spattered RV lay a woman, her eyes staring lifelessly into the fire.

Brett pushed Jo into the RV, her legs only refused further to co-operate when she saw the small body of the little girl lying on the floor, her blood seeping around her from out of two bullet holes. She found the strength to push herself up from the floor and turned and swung her arms at Brett. They hit him hard in the face and she heard a satisfying groan of pain escape his lips. Her victory didn't last long and he grabbed hold of her and pushed her through a door and down onto a double bed, his body pinning hers to it.

"Don't try to fight me Jo, you won't win!" he growled angrily at her before he smacked her hard across the face with the back of his hand.

He then climbed off her and slammed the door shut on her. She heard him jam it somehow. She moved her hands up to cover her face and curled into a ball and cried, cried for the family who had just lost their lives.

**TBC**

**Thanks so much for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. This has taken longer than I wanted it to, but I've been mega busy with a new promotion in work and was attempting to update at the weekend but my dog started to give birth and it all went down hill from there. Another update is already waiting so after enough reviews from this chapter I will update.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**Chapter 5**

Mac was walking from Adams lab towards his office when he heard the lift doors open followed by someone shouting his name. He immediately recognised the voice and turned to face the person running towards him.

"Tyler, I thought you were staying at home with Ellie?" Mac said.

"My roommate is staying with her until my Grandma can get here." Tyler told him, his panic evident in his voice. "My dad's already on his way down too, I had to ring and tell him. He's worried sick."

"I know how he feels." Mac said, before noticing Hawkes walking by. "Hawkes!" he called out, grabbing the younger man's attention.

Hawkes headed straight over to them a bigger look of worry on his face than before, "Is Ellie okay?" he asked in panic.

"She's doing great since you saw her." Tyler told him, "I just had to come down here. I need to know how I can help. And don't give me any of that "You can help by waiting around crap, Mac. This is my Mom we're talking about."

"I know." Mac said before giving his shoulder a supportive squeeze. "Which is why I promise you we'll find her." he added.

Hawkes could only stand there and stare at him in disbelief. Mac had just broken one of the golden rules. _'Never make a promise to a vic's family that you may not be able to keep.'_

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo was sat on the bed in the bedroom Brett had shoved her into what felt like hours ago. She had her legs tucked up in front of her with her chin resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around them. She was feeling completely exhausted, all she wanted to do was sleep but every time she closed her eyes she saw the bodies of the family that Brett had killed, _the little girl in particular._

She knew she should have paid more attention to where they were going, where Brett was driving them to. There was a small window beside the bed and she could see out of it, but all she saw were trees standing eerily in the night's sky.

The road, or dirt track rather, that they were heading down was uneven and she was getting rocked about to the point she felt like she was actually going to throw up. She pushed herself up from the bed and walked over to the door. She tried opening it but quickly remembered that Brett had blocked it somehow, trapping her in the room.

She pounded her fists against it, letting Brett know she wanted out. After a minute of nothing she hit it again and even kicked it in frustration. Still she got no answer and she could feel her nausea rising. Either she needed to be able to get to a toilet, or a sink, anything soon or she was gonna throw up on the floor.

The RV suddenly jerked to a stop and Jo found herself struggling to stay standing. She held on to the wall and prayed she wouldn't throw up all over the room. A moment later she heard whatever was jamming the door shut being dragged away. She turned to face Brett as he slowly opened the door and saw the blood that was spattered over his clothes. It was enough to make her stomach flip and she put her hand over her mouth and barged past him.

She knew she didn't have time to find the bathroom in the RV so she just dashed over to the kitchen sink and threw up into that. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten anything so there wasn't much to come in but it didn't stop her from retching, pulling the muscles in her stomach, painfully so.

When finally the retching had stopped she turned the cold tap on and splashed water into her mouth. She glanced sideways at Brett who moved to stand next to her, leaning against the kitchen counter beside her. "Travel sickness?" he asked, "Something you ate maybe?" he mocked.

"Maybe it has something to seeing the family you just murdered!" Jo spat angrily at him as she swilled some more cold water around her mouth in an attempt to get rid of the taste of vomit.

"Just pawns in the game, Jo. Some pieces will be taken out, others are more useful to keep around." he said as he glared at her.

"You think this is a game! You think killing a child is just a game?!" she yelled at him in disbelief.

"Jo, believe it or not, I didn't just kill that child because I don't like kids, and I didn't kill that woman because I hate women or something…. Just like I haven't kept you hostage just because I hate women…" he told her before his eyes suddenly snaked their way over her body.

Jo felt her stomach flip. He made her feel sick and the way his eyes undressed her made her feel even sicker. She took a step back and glared at him as his hand came up to slowly brush his fingers over her cheek and he said, "I like women, I like women _like you_ a lot."

Jo quickly reached up and swatted his hand away from her. "Keep your hands of me!" she warned him.

"Chill, Jo." he warned her.

"_God,_ you're even sicker than I thought you were." she spat at him.

Brett suddenly moved quickly, slamming his body into Jo's and forcing her backwards until she was pinned between him and the wall. He glared at her and easily brushed off her attempts to push him off her. Eventually Jo gave up and just glared at him.

This seemed to make Brett happy, the dark look suddenly disappeared from his eyes and a smile spread across his face. Jo flinched as his hand came up to meet her face again, she was sure he was going to hit her again but instead he gently brushed his fingers over her bruised face. She could only groan in disgust at his touch.

"I can make this real easy on you, Jo, or I can make it as hard as you like. You pick?"

Jo continued to just look at him. "How about you just let me go now? By the time I find my way to the nearest town you'll be miles away." she suggested.

Brett just laughed at her. "You're not going anywhere, Jo." he told her.

_She'd been afraid of this all along._

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac glanced up at Tyler who was sitting on the chairs in his office. Mac was behind his desk, reading through the profile of the man they knew to have Jo….if he still had her. Flack had filled him in to an extent but Mac needed to know more. So far he hated everything he had read, characteristics that stood out the most about Brett kept echoing around his head causing one hell of a headache not to mention a growing feeling of nausea.

_**Unpredictable…. Extremely violent… Enthusiastic rapist… Murderer….**_

He looked up from the file as he heard someone call out his name as they came running towards his office. "Mac!" Russ Josephson called out again.

"DAD!" Tyler shouted as he got to his feet.

He met his father in a hug in the doorway to Mac's office. Mac could only walk over to them, feeling a little awkward. "Any news?!" Russ asked.

"None other than some psycho has Mom and we have no idea where." Tyler snapped in frustration.

"We're following leads." Mac said. It was an exaggeration as they had no leads really but it sounded like what the victim of a missing loved one would want to hear. Somehow Mac seemed to have forgotten that Russ was FBI and so knew how to spout the same garbage.

"Bull, Mac! Tell me you have location or you know she is definitely safe, but don't give me the shit we spout to victim's families!" Russ said, understandably a little pissed off.

"I'm sorry, Russ. It's not total bull-shit. We are following leads but the only slight lead that we have is identification on our perp, truth is…" Mac had to stop himself as he caught sight of the worried look on Tyler's face.

Russ saw Mac's reluctance to speak and he understood it. He turned to his son and said, "Tyler, why don't you go home and be with Ellie and your Grandmother?"

"Because I want to be here, Dad, I wanna help find Mom."

"I know you do and so do I but if I have to keep looking over my shoulder making sure you're safe it's gonna distract me from finding your mom. If I know you're at home with Ellie and that you're both safe then I can find her quicker."

"Dad, I can help!"

"Yeah, you can, by please doing what I ask. I need to know both you and Ellie are ok. _That_ is what you can do to help me find your mom."

Tyler looked at his father and realised he was right. He wished he could do more but realising this was the best thing he could do he accepted it. "Fine, but ring me the second you know anything."

"I will, I promise." Russ agreed.

"Good or bad, Dad. I'm not a little kid…"

"I know, son." Russ said before pulling his son into another hug. "I just pray its good news."

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo had been forced back into the bedroom and was forced to feel the bump and bounce of the RV as it travelled down a quiet dirt track deep in the forest. Little did she know in five minutes it would come to a stop beside a huge lake. At this time of the year the lake would be deserted which was exactly why Brett was headed there.

She was trying to ignore the fact she was being driven somewhere without a chance of ending up safe somewhere at the end of it. She was too distracted thinking about the family who had been killed, and her children at home, to think of a means of escaping. She knew by now Tyler would be worried sick about her. She knew the team would know something was wrong and she wondered how long it would be until she was rescued, _if she would be rescued._

The RV suddenly came to a stop. Jo quickly looked out of the window and saw that they had pulled up beside a lake. She sat back on the bed and all she could do was wait and wonder why Brett had brought her here.

**~0~0~0~0~**

With Tyler gone, Mac was able to fill Russ in on everything they knew so far about Brett Moyle and there wasn't one good thing in his profile to pick up on. This fact was evident on Russ's face which had gone more and more grey the more he heard.

"This is the reason I begged her not to move to Manhattan!" he suddenly stated.

"This could have happened to her anywhere!" Mac pointed out.

"I begged her to give up her career after Tyler was born. If she had just listened to me…"

"If you know Jo as well as I do you'll know how important her career is to her."

"Too fucking important! I begged her to be a stay at home Mom. I hoped we would have tons of kids and I would come home from work to a family. If there's one thing Jo does best its be a mother."

"You don't have to tell me that. I've seen her with Tyler and Ellie, she's a fantastic mother."

"I just wish she realised that being a mother could be enough for her." Russ said with a sad sigh.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo was sat on a fallen down log beside a pretty good camp fire. Her hands were cuffed together in front of her and a thick rope was tied around her waist and hooked around the tree somehow behind her.

Brett was sat opposite her, the fire the only thing between them. He was hungrily tucking into some cooked chicken that he had found in the kitchen fridge when he had searched the RV. He had placed a plate of food on Jo's lap. She had reluctantly picked at the chicken. She felt awfully guilty eating the family's food when they would never eat a meal again, but she needed to keep her strength up. However an image of the family sat around the table, eating the chicken themselves made her suddenly lose her appetite, so she picked the plate up and clumsily dropped it the floor beside her feet.

"You not hungry?" Brett asked her.

Jo chose to ignore him and instead looked out over the lake. Despite the situation she was in she couldn't ignore how beautiful the final hours of the night sky made the lake look. If wasn't a bad choice if it had to be the last beautiful night scene she would see in her life. The sky was just starting to turn back to blue, the stars where becoming less obvious above her. Soon the sun would be rising and Jo could only wonder if she would live long enough to see it.

She was startled when she turned and found Brett standing right beside her. He reached down, grabbed her plate and finished off her chicken as he carried the plates back inside the RV. A second later Jo heard the radio come on. The fact that Brett was playing the music at a relatively loud volume only proved to Jo that no one was nearby. No one was around who could help her so all she could do was try to help herself.

She began shifting from side to side, trying to loosen the rope around her. She would be able to run with her hands cuffed easily, if she could just get free from the log. She quickly gave up her attempts when she heard Brett stagger out of the RV, yet another fresh bottle of beer from out of the family's fridge in his hands.

He walked over to her as he downed a large quantity of the bottle. He came to stop in front of her and held the bottle out to her. Jo just glared at him and shook her head at him, she didn't want to drink the beer of the murdered family, just like she didn't want to eat their food, and she certainly didn't want to share a bottle with him.

She turned back to look at the lake and sighed heavily. She yelped in pain as Brett suddenly grabbed her face and turned it sharly to face him. He let go of her face and tangled his hand up in her hair before pulling it back and thrusting the bottle into her mouth.

The contents of the bottle quickly filled Jo's mouth, and she had to swallow it quick to stop herself from choking on it. However, Brett wasn't happy until he had poured the rest of the contents of the bottle into her mouth. Jo could barely manage to keep swallowing the beer as it filled her mouth. As soon as the bottle was empty Brett stepped back and let go of Jo. He threw the bottle into the fire, and watched with a smile as Jo choked on the bitter tasting beer lodged in her throat.

"Any one would think you'd never drank before, Jo." Brett mocked.

Jo spat the bitter taste out of her mouth and glared up at Brett. She wanted nothing more than to shove a beer bottle down his mouth and force its content into his throat and see how well he did on trying not to choke to death. Then she wanted to hit him around the head with the damn bottle.

"Hey," he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder as she continued to choke, "Quit it!" he warned her.

Jo just glared at him and was finally able to stop herself from choking. Brett just looked back at her and a silence fell over them, it was then Jo noticed the music playing on the radio, Brett seemed to suddenly hear it to, despite being the one to have put it on in the first place.

He moved over her and began fumbling with the knots in the rope. As he untied the rope binding her to the tree he was humming the song playing on the radio. Jo remained perfectly still and held her breath until he stood up straight again. She watched as he threw the rope to the floor beside him. She couldn't help but glance at it and wonder what he had planned.

"Get up!" he told her.

Jo was hesitant, she really did have no idea what he had planned and that scared the shit out of her.

"GET UP!" he growled at her impatiently.

Knowing it best to obey him she stood up. The moment she was on her feet he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. His hold was firm but in no way painful. Jo didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he began softly swaying them, still humming the music until he broke out into words, _"Anyone who ever held you would tell you the way I'm feeling. Anyone who ever wanted you, would try to tell you what I feel inside. The only thing I ever wanted was the feeling that you ain't faking. The only one you ever thought about."_

Jo had never been a fan of simply red, but this song, _stars,_ in particular wasn't one of her favourites. Brett pulled her a little closer and continued dancing with her, continued singing, _"Wait a minute can't you see that I, I wanna fall from the stars, straight into your arms. I, I feel you. I hope you comprehend…"_

The more he sang, the longer they danced, the more uncomfortable Jo began to feel. She couldn't help but tense up when she felt Brett pull her even closer to him. His face was suddenly right beside hers. She could feel his hot breath on her neck. Then she felt his fingers pulling her hair aside and just seconds later she felt his lips on her neck.

She immediately tried to push away from him but he tightened his grip on her, his hold now became painful. She tried to squirm out of his arms as he planted sloppy kisses on her neck. Seconds later she could only yelp in pain as she felt his teeth clamp down on her shoulder.

Knowing she had to act fast she brought her knee up as hard and as fast as she could. It connected hard with Brett's hardened member. With a growl of pain he fell back, holding himself. Jo wasted no time in turning on her heels and running into the thick trees that stood guard around the lake.

Her heart was pounding wildly and she could hear her blood pumping around her head as she ran, ran as fast as she could…._ran for her life…_

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading, please, please review.**

**Can anyone tell me what has been happening in the newest episodes? Any good **_**Jac**_** moments? Let's hope this is the season they get together. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to all those reading and to those who reviewed.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Chapter 6**

Jo had never run so fast in her life. What made it hard for her was the sharp pain that was spreading through her left side. It had started out as a stich in her side but the pain was now making it hard to breathe let alone move. She guessed being beaten up and her current escape attempt had something to do with the lingering pain.

The sun was finally beginning to rise but the forest was still gloomy. It was possibly the only reason Brett hadn't found Jo yet, as she had now slowed down to just a stumble. He'd been chasing her for over an hour and she knew he was going to catch up with her soon if she didn't keep moving, but the pain she felt every time she tried to run was sickening.

She tried to forget about it and tried to run just to put some more space between herself and Brett but straight away the pain was too much. The pain brought her down onto her hands and knees where all she could do was throw up, once more having only an empty stomach meaning all she could do was wretch, _again very painfully so._

When she was done she shuffled on her ass across the forest floor to a tree which she sat and leant against. She felt awful and she was utterly exhausted. She was covered in mud from having fallen to the forest floor so many times. Her clothes were all torn from brambles and sharp twigs that she had been snagged on whilst running.

Her face and arms were badly cut, making her look like she'd been in a fight with a lion…_and lost._ There was a deep bleeding gash on right thigh from where she had tumbled down an embankment and landed at the bottom of it on sharp jagged rocks that lined the bottom of the shallow stream that ran through the embankment. The sharp rocks had cut right through her jeans and just as easily through her flesh. That particular tumble had also left her with a deep gash on her forehead and an equally as deep gash on her stomach just below her ribs which she was sure were broken.

She knew if Brett was to catch up with her now she would have no fight in her to stop whatever he had planned for her. She'd heard in the way he had been calling her name that he was pissed with her. She didn't blame him really she had pretty much rearranged his family jewels. _Not rearranged enough_ she scoffed, laughing at her own joke, making herself wince and flinch in pain.

She almost jumped a mile when she suddenly heard a rustling of leaves, _a snap of a twig..._ Her heart began to pound hard against her chest. She knew it had to be Brett, either way the noise was close. She pulled herself up, using the tree she had been leaning against. The pain from such a move made her want to throw up again but adrenaline started to kick in and she swallowed the feeling of nausea down and began walking as fast as she could between the trees.

She heard the sound again, it sounded like it was all around her, up above her, everywhere... She turned and scanned the forest to see if he was behind her, he wasn't. She moved again and once more she heard the rustling of leaves again, it was followed by the sounds of a group of birds taking off from a tree in flight, loudly squawking in terror as they did so.

Jo was so busy watching the birds fly off that as she took a step forward she didn't see that Brett had stepped in front of her. She stopped dead in her track so as not to collide into him, "Brett!" she gasped.

She never heard his replay as seconds later his fist connected so hard with her face that she was knocked right off her feet and onto her back. She was unconscious by the time she landed on the muddy forest floor. Brett stepped over her, shaking his hand which throbbed and bled from having hit her so hard. "That's for hitting me, bitch!" he yelled at her. "I told you not to fuck with me, Jo!"

He glared at her for a moment and then reached down and grabbed hold of her. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her with ease through the forest and back towards the RV.

As soon as he was away from the patch of forest where he had just knocked Jo out there was a rustle of trees, _a snap of a twig_... The sound came from up in a tree where a bird watcher was sat in his usual spot in his camouflage gear watching birds and other wildlife in the forest. This time of year was the best as the forest was usually deserted so the wildlife thrived and was most active, but not today.

"Oh fuck!" he said in a panic as he finally took a breath that he had been holding. He began searching through his pockets, somewhere he had a phone…_or had he left it at home this time…?_

Finally he found it. He pulled it out and phoned the local Ranger's station. He wasn't sure what he had just witnessed as his head was still registering the violent scene but he knew he had to do something to help the woman.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac walked into this office and slammed the door shut. He walked behind his desk and flopped down into this chair. He felt sick with worry. His stomach was constantly churning and hearing that his team still had nothing to work on only made the feeling worse. The migraine he had also didn't help things.

He looked up and glanced out of the glass windows of his office. He could see into one of the labs where a group of young techs where stood watching the news. He could see Jo's picture and the bold headline, _**missing CSI.**_ He could just about hear the news woman's voice, they were always dramatic but when he heard her say "fears are growing over her being found alive." he knew for once that she was right.

Too much time and passed and after what he had read about Brett from his file he knew that they were using up time that Jo just didn't have. He could only pray their time hadn't already run out for her. He was waiting for the phone call to say her body had been found in a ditch somewhere. The thought made him drop his face into his hands and sigh heavily.

He felt a lump forming in his throat, he felt tears building in his eyes, burning. He was about to fall apart and lose it when his phone rang. He quickly answered, praying it was Jo, he quickly found out that it wasn't…

"Mac Taylor?" the man on the other end of the phone asked.

"Yeah," Mac replied.

"My name is Pete Williams. You could say I'm in charge of the Catskills. I'm a Ranger out here."

Mac felt his heart begin to pound against his chest, he couldn't decide if this was a good call or bad call.

"I just got a call from a guy, we call him crazy Pete, which is a little insulting to me seeing as his name is actually Bernard. Anyway, he told me that he saw a woman with being attacked by a man up by the lake. I figured this was odd because, well not many people are out here this time of year, especially not around the lake. I rang the sheriff's station and they told me about a missing persons alert that's come from your guys there in New York. He told me the missing woman's name was Josephine Danville. Well crazy Pe…I mean Bernard told me this guy called her Jo and she called him Brett. Sherriff said that was the name of your perp but refused to do anything because it was Bernard who called it in, and it's not the first time he's done something like this."

"Where about is this lake?" Mac asked as he got ready to type it into his computer, ready to do a map search.

He typed it in as Pete gave him everything he would need to know. "Can you just give me a minute?" Pete suddenly asked him.

Mac wanted to do anything but give him a minute as it meant taking a minute away from Jo, but he did so anyway. A moment later Pete came back on the phone, "Err, Mac, what car does your missing person drive?"

"Jo, err she drives a big SUV, black….why?!" he asked.

"Another ranger of mine just called in. He found a black SUV beside a camping stop out here by the lake. He also found three bodies at the site. A local family who take their RV out around the lake this time every year…Mac, if you find this son-uva-bitch you make sure you make him pay, youngest vic was just a kid."

"I promise you I will, Pete."

"I'm gunna get as many people as I can out looking for Jo. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything." Pete told him.

"Thank you!" Mac said, "And tell Bernard I said thank you too."

"Yeah, I will do at my mother's next Sunday lunch get together…_Bernard's my little brother_."

"Thank you!" Mac said again and then quickly hung up.

He ran out of his office feeling somewhat relieved, finally they had something, now he just had to pray they wouldn't find her too late.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo woke up to a world of pain. She couldn't help but cry out in agony as she tried to move. A quick glance around told her she was back in the bedroom in the RV.

"Welcome back, Jo!" she heard Brett growl.

She turned her head to the side and saw him standing in the doorway. She wanted to reply someway but instead she did the best thing she could while still stuck in her situation, and that was fall back into unconsciousness.

**TBC**

**Will Mac and the team find Jo in time? Will they get Brett?**

**Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank to everyone reading and reviewing. This took longer than I thought again, I swear they need to introduce more hours into the day, although no doubt I would end up working during them too. Good job I love my job.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Chapter 7**

Jo had once more returned to the land of consciousness. She was trying to ignore the pain she was in but she couldn't ignore the bleeding. She had pulled one of the pillows off the bed out of its case and was now ripping the case into shreds. She was going to use one of the strips to tie a tourniquet around her leg. _She had to slow the bleeding from the gash on her thigh._ She grabbed one of the shredded pieces of material and tied it tightly around her leg above the deep wound. She couldn't help but yelp in pain. _She was in agony._

Taking a deep breath to calm herself she then grabbed another piece of the shredded pillow case and used that to dab at the wound on her head. She had only just placed the cloth on the wound when she heard the chair being moved away from door. Her heart began to pound in her chest when the door opened and Brett walked in.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac pulled his Avalanche up beside a Rangers vehicle. He hesitated before he got out as he simply studied the scene in front of him. There was crime scene tape everywhere and although the bodies of the murdered family where gone there were still some CSI's photographing the scene and looking for evidence.

_Then he saw Jo's car._

Slowly he climbed out of his car. Flack, Russ, Danny and Lindsay where due to arrive shortly as they had followed him down in Flack's car, but right now he wanted to have a look round by himself. He walked towards Jo's car, the trunk was opened and for a moment he didn't want to look inside but he forced himself to.

He immediately found himself staring down at a small pool of blood. It made his stomach turn to think that the blood probably belonged to Jo. It killed him to think she was hurt and it made him more than angry knowing that Brett was the one who had hurt her. He could only pray she wasn't hurt too badly.

"You must be Detective Mac Taylor?" Mac heard someone say.

He recognised the voice as the one from the phone call he had received earlier, "Ranger Pete Williams?" he said.

"Yes, wish I could say it's a pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances…" Pete began.

"What do you have?" Mac asked him.

"Not much, I don't think our perp stuck around here long. I think he killed the family and moved on quick. We did find this though." Pete said as he held up an evidence bag.

Mac studied it but didn't need a second look to recognise the necklace inside it. It was one of Jo's, one she wore a lot. He would often catch her playing with it whenever she wore it. He could suddenly see the night she had vanished playing out before his eyes. He had caught her that night playing with the necklace. He could suddenly imagine her struggling with Brett and the necklace being pulled from off her in that struggle.

Snapping himself from his thoughts Mac asked, "Do you have any idea which way our perp might have gone?"

"There's tyre tracks leading off down the narrow road way. Not the best to drive down but it's the quickest way alongside the lake towards where they were spotted, it's also the quietest track. My guess is if your guy wants to keep a low profile that is the way he's probably gonna go."

"I can't wait, I have to go check it out." Mac told him.

"You can't go alone. I have people out looking for them?"

"You had people out looking for them hours ago, so why haven't they found her?"

"I don't know, but Mac if they can't find her out here what makes you think you can? My people know these mountains, they know this lake!"

"Yeah well, sometimes fresh eyes help." Mac said as he returned to his car.

Pete quickly grabbed hold of his radio and spoke into it "I need that chopper to keep circling the lake. Hopefully the noise will run this perp out into the open."

Mac started up the engine to his car and then stuck his head out of the window and yelled to Pete, "When my guys get here tell them to follow after me!"

With that he drove around the crime scene, barely squeezing through the trees beside it before he made it onto the bumpy path. It was going to be hard to make his way down the dirt track but Mac was determined to make it through. _He knew if an RV could do it then his Avalanche certainly could._

**~0~0~0~0~**

Brett was sat outside the RV. He was sitting on a log beside a small fire. It was cold outside and he had been in to talk to Jo, and give her some water. She hadn't been in a talking mood so he had figured he would give her a bit more time. After that he would force her to talk to him, _he would force her to do whatever he wanted her to do…_

He was so lost in his thoughts that for a moment he didn't hear the noise above him, but suddenly it hit him, the sound was loud and it was close…._a helicopter_. He had heard it earlier on but it had passed over, now the damn thing sounded like it was circling right above him.

He knew what it meant, he knew it meant that the cops or whoever had found him. "FUCK!" he yelled, more than pissed off.

He stormed back into the RV, he knew he needed to run. The RV was going to stand out too much, he would do better, be able to hide more easily on foot. He fully intended to take Jo with him as a hostage gave him a much better chance.

He ripped the chair away from the bedroom door and threw it across the RV. He pulled open her door and stormed into the room. Jo was sat on the bed, looking exhausted and in pain but he didn't care. He grabbed hold of her ankle and yanked hard on it so she was pulled across the beds towards him.

"Get up! We're moving onwards on foot." he yelled at her.

"I can't!" Jo told him weakly.

"You have no choice!" he told her as he pulled the gun out on her.

"I can barely stand, let alone walk and you must be dreaming if you think I could run!" Jo snapped.

Brett quickly reached out and grabbed a handful of Jo's shirt and pulled her up onto her feet. "You'll do whatever the hell I want you too!"

Jo pulled herself away from him, tearing her shirt in the process, exposing half of her bra to Brett, but he didn't have time to pay much attention as the sounds of a car approaching, and the chopper getting closer, got louder and louder.

"Get up, Jo, move, now!" he yelled at her as he grabbed at her again and once more tried to pull her to her feet.

Jo yelped in pain as soon as she was standing as a sharp pain shot through her leg. Her legs gave way from under her, it was only because of Brett still holding onto her that she didn't land on the floor.

"Bitch!" Brett yelled at her, "You bitch!"

Before Jo could stop him Brett slammed the gun into the side of her head once more knocking her out cold. He let her body fall back onto the bed. He then grabbed hold of her legs and pulled on them, bringing her right to the end of the bed. "Don't think that this is goodbye, Jo. I'll be seeing you!" he promised her before he ran out of the room, and after filling a bag with a few things he ran out of the RV and disappeared into the forest.

**~0~0~**

Mac couldn't actually believe his eyes as he brought his car to a stop. The RV was there, right in front of his eyes. Part of him didn't want to take a look inside, fearing what he would find, but a bigger part of him had to go see if Jo was in it.

He quickly but quietly got out of his car, in a moment he had his gun aimed and ready. Slowly he made his way over to the RV, keeping his eyes and ears open. There didn't seem to be a sound anywhere around him.

He got to the door of the RV and carefully looked inside. He knew it was possible that Brett was hiding somewhere inside, waiting for him but his gut instinct told him the Brett was gone, he could only hope without Jo.

He climbed up the steps into the RV and instantly noticed the blood on the floor and he prayed it wasn't Jo's as there was a lot of it. He wanted to call out Jo's name but he stopped himself from doing so, just in case Brett was still there.

He inched forward towards an open door. He took a deep breath before he quickly stepped into the open doorway with his gun still aimed and ready. He lowered it the moment he was looking into the bedroom and could see Jo lying on the bed. He could see she was badly beaten and that her clothes were torn and dirty and covered in blood.

He leant over her and with shaky hands felt for a pulse, he sighed with relief when he felt one. He guessed by the freshly bleeding wound on the side of her head that she had been knocked out. He was more than thankful he had her back. He just wished he had found and captured Brett too, _if only so he could make him pay._

**TBC**

**Thanks very much for reading, hope you enjoyed.**

**As usual I'm going to ask you to please review and let me know what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on CSI: NY.**

**Chapter 8**

Jo opened her eyes and waited for the pain to hit her, but it didn't, something she could only be thankful for. There was still a slight lingering pain if she was honest with herself, a throbbing in her head that she couldn't completely ignore, but it was nothing like she had been experiencing before.

"Jo," she heard a voice say.

Upon hearing the voice she was sure she was dreaming. She turned to look to the side and instantly felt tears begin to form in her eyes when she saw Mac sitting beside her. She reached out and touched his face, having to know he was really there and that she wasn't just dreaming that he was. She closed her eyes and sighed with relief when she felt him reach up and put his hand on top of hers.

Knowingly he said, "I'm here, Jo. You're not dreaming this. You're safe now."

Jo opened her eyes and looked at him and smiled, "You have never looked better." she said to him with a small smile, having honestly believed she would never get to see him again.

Mac just laughed slightly and said, "I'm sorry to say this, but you have, Jo. As beautiful as you may still be, it kills me to have to look at you and see your face battered and bruised. You have no idea how angry it makes me." he told her.

Jo just laughed at this. "Brett didn't exactly hold back on his punches, or his slaps…or when he hit me with the butt of a gun." she said as she moved to sit up, causing herself some slight discomfort.

It took her a second before she could look around and see she was in a hospital room. She presumed that was the reason she was in less pain was because she was probably on pain medication, and some good stuff at that.

"Where are you holding Brett?" she asked.

Mac was a little startled by her reply, and could only look at Jo with sympathetic eyes. "Jo, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this but we didn't catch Brett. When we found you you were alone in a bedroom in the RV." Jo studied Mac's expression, she could see a look of worry on his face, "Your clothes were torn and you were unconscious on the bed… The doctors want to do a rape exam."

Jo shook her head, "Mac, I wasn't raped."

"Jo, a rape exam will confirm that." Mac argued.

"I can confirm that, Mac! I don't need an exam!" Jo argued back.

"Jo, Brett has a very long list of offences in his jacket. The things he has done makes some of our worst cases look like fairy-tales. For your own sake you need to have this exam, trust me." Mac said.

Jo just flopped her head back into the pillow behind her and sighed. "This is gonna be such a waste of time." she said, sounding angry and more than frustrated.

"Think of it this way, by the time the exam is over Adam will be here, and he's bringing Ellie and Tyler." Mac said, hoping it would cheer her up a bit.

It did slightly but the idea of a rape exam kept Jo feeling sick to the pit of her stomach.

**~0~0~0~0~**

_**Some hours later**_

Mac walked into Jo's hospital room to find her propped up in bed with Ellie sitting beside her and Tyler sat on the end of the bed. Mac could see the huge smile on Jo's face as she spoke with her children. Tyler was at the end of telling them some sort of story that had them all laughing, a sound that brought a smile to his face.

Mac didn't miss that Russ was also there, standing beside Jo's bed. Upon realising Mac probably had the results of Jo's exam he decided it best to move Ellie and Tyler out of the room so Mac and Jo could talk.

"Hey, guys, why don't we leave your Mom talk to Mac for a moment." Russ suggested.

Mac had expected Russ to want to stay upon realising he had the results of Jo's exam, but he also understood why he might not want to be there to hear the results. It was obvious how much Russ still cared for Jo even though she was his ex-wife, so he had no doubt that the idea of Jo having being raped sickened Russ as much as it did him, which is why he wished he could tell him the results but he knew Jo deserved to know first.

"If you guys are going by anywhere that sells food I will have the biggest, fattest, juiciest burger you can lay your hands on." Jo said to Russ, Tyler and Ellie.

"Deal!" Russ said and placed a kiss on Jo's forehead.

As soon as they had all left the room, Mac walked over to Jo's bed and sat down on the end of it. For a moment he and Jo just looked at one another but eventually Jo had to speak up.

"Mac Taylor, I know you can be a man of few words but I swear to God I will strangle you if you don't tell me what I know you know right now!" she said as she grabbed hold of his hands

"The exam result showed that you weren't raped." Mac said with ease.

Jo sighed and then replied, "I knew it,"

"I'm sorry, Jo, but we had to be sure."

"I know." she replied.

"I just wish you didn't have to go through it, any of this in fact."

"Well, I did, Mac, and I survived… which is more than I can say for some, like the family Brett killed."

"I'm sorry you had to witness that, Jo. I can only imagine what it was like."

"Mac, you have nothing to be sorry about, but you have to promise me something."

"Anything" Mac replied,

"Promise me that we will find Brett and that we will make him pay."

"I promise you."

"Thank you." she said. Suddenly she thought about having been short and snappy with him when he had first mentioned the exam. "I'm so sorry I was so snappy with you earlier, Mac."

"You had every right to be." Mac replied.

"No I didn't. You were just doing your job. Like they say, better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Right," Mac said before he took hold of Jo's hand and softly kissed it. "And as soon as I find and catch Brett I know you'll be safe. I promise I will never let him hurt you like that again, Jo."

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks to anyone reading and to anyone leaving a review, I really appreciate hearing what you think about the story. I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to update, I haven't had time off work for ages, finally have a week off now so I plan on catching up on all my writing. This chapter is pretty much just fluff, and well…you'll see. **

**Can someone tell me what's been happening in the new season? Any good JAC moments? Is Christine still around, I hope not. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

**Chapter 9**

_**One month later. **_

Jo walked along the corridor of the crime lab with a huge smile on her face. She was so happy to be back in work after having had to have time off to let her body heal. She had hated having time off and the mandatory counselling that went along with it but it had paid off and she was back doing the job she loved.

Her first week back had been busy, and a difficult case had made it even harder, but cracking it and seeing the perp being punished for it had made the week worthwhile. The others had all left for the night, except for Mac of course, he was still in his lab, finishing up some paperwork, _or so Jo thought._

She threw the folders she had been carrying down on her desk. The files landed among the complete and utter chaos that littered her desk, same as usual. She was just thinking that she really should try to sort it some when she heard a knock on the glass. She looked up and smiled when she saw Mac watching her from the doorway, a smile on his face.

"Something the matter?" he asked her.

"I was thinking about how I should probably sort my desk out….but…." she began.

"Why change habit of a lifetime?" Mac finished for her.

Jo just tilted her head to the head slightly and smiled at him, "Mac Taylor, you know me so well."

"I know that you haven't eaten all day, which is why I want to take you out for something to eat now."

"Mac, are you worried about me?"

"I wanna make sure you're okay, and make sure you looking after yourself."

"I'm fine, Mac, but I am hungry. What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking greasy burger and fries, or maybe the Italian down the street, I love that place."

"Italian it is then." Jo said.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo and Mac had finished their meal and were walking down the street back towards where Mac had parked his car.

"Thanks for this Mac, the food was amazing."

"That place is always amazing. Next time we go you should try the Agnello Scottadita."

"Mac Taylor, I love it when you talk Italian to me." Jo said playfully, nudging him with her elbow.

Mac could only laugh as he replied, "It's a lamb dish. Scottadita roughly translate to burnt fingers."

"Burnt fingers?" Jo asked in confusion, coming to a stop besides Mac's car.

"It's supposed to taste so good that you can't wait for it to cool down before you start eating it, so you eat it using your hands and end up with burnt fingers." he said simply, with a smile that made Jo smile right back at him.

"Then it's a date, next time we go there we order burnt fingers."

"Agnello Scottadita." Mac corrected.

Jo suddenly couldn't wait for that date, she had really enjoyed the evening and wasn't actually ready for it to end. "You wanna come back to my place? Ellie is out tonight at a friend's house and I have a six pack of beers that _need _drinking, care to help a lady out?" she asked playfully.

"You know me, Jo, I always like to help out a lady in need." Mac said.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo carried two beers into her living room and passed one to Mac who was stood by the window, looking out. "I always manage to forget that you have such a great view from your apartment." Mac said as he thankfully took one of the beers from her.

Jo stood looking out at the view with him, "As soon as I saw that view I knew I wanted this apartment." she told him.

"It is a pretty fantastic view." he said, no longer looking at the actual view but just looking at Jo instead. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she truly was. Even though all her bruises were gone he still knew that they had once been there. Just like sometimes he still saw the bruises and scars left behind by John Curtis's attack.

Jo turned to face him and saw him looking at her, studying her. "What?" she asked before taking a swig of beer.

"You're beautiful." he told her matter-of-factly.

Jo immediately felt herself blush. "You're sweet, Mac." she said and moved forward to kiss him on the cheek, but in a moment of confusion Mac turned and their lips came to meet and that is how they shared their first real kiss.

Instead of pulling away right away like her head told her to, Jo left her lips linger on his. Mac felt but did the exact same thing, their lips were like magnets. It just felt too good to pull them apart. The kiss quickly deepened and it felt amazing to have it do so.

Mac put his bottle of beer down on the window sill then took Jo's from hers and placed it down next to his discarded bottle. With her hands now free Jo reached up and gently took hold of Mac's face and as Mac wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled their bodies closer the kiss deepened further. It suddenly felt even more amazing and Jo couldn't help but moan into his mouth, receiving a similar sound from Mac.

**~0~0~**

Just a moment later Jo and Mac where in her room, falling down onto her bed. Everything seemed to be happening quickly between them, but it seemed so right and neither of them were about to stop what was happening. _Neither of them wanted to stop it._

Jo was lay underneath Mac, unbuttoning his shirt as he trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck, hitting a certain sensitive spot that made her moan again. His kisses were making her body react quicker and she could feel his body's sweet reaction pressing against her thigh. Impatiently, she pulled his shirt apart, ripping of the final couple of buttons off. She pushed his shirt off and they both sat up so that Mac could pull her shirt off over her head.

As their lips met again they struggled to unfasten belts and buttons on jeans, as the romantic moment came to a halt, along with the remaining removal of clothes both Jo and Mac had to laugh. Mac gently cupped her face again and kissed her softly. "Let me," he said before he kissed her again, gently lowering her down flat on the bed.

He began trailing kisses down her neck again, moving them down across her chest and onto her breasts. As they continued to explore each other's body the rest of their clothes came off, and as their bodies moved and became one both Jo and Mac knew that this was right. Up until this moment their heads had told them that a relationship between them wouldn't work, that they were just friends, but right know their hearts confirmed that they were much more than just friends and both hoped it would stay that way.

After their love making they lay there, wrapped in one another's loving arms and together they fell asleep.

**~0~0~**

Jo couldn't sleep. She climbed out of bed and decided she would have a cup of tea, first she had to check on Ellie. She tiptoed down the hallway and up to her door, opening it slightly so she could see Ellie without disturbing her. She had to smile to see her daughter sleeping peacefully.

She closed her door over again and walked back down the corridor and towards the kitchen. She filled the kettle and flicked it on and stood there waiting for it to boil. She was unable to hold a yawn back, _God she was tired despite being unable to sleep._ She was just considering leaving the cup of tea and going back to bed and forcing herself to go to sleep when she heard soft music playing from the living room.

She flicked the noisy boiling kettle off and made her way into the living room. She stood there trying to work out where the music was coming from. She made her way over to the stereo knowing that this was the only place it could be coming from. She turned the volume up, but the moment she did she felt her heart skip a beat, as a hauntingly familiar tune burst from the speakers.

_I want to fall from the stars, _

_straight into your arms…._

Jo instantly remembered having heard the song whilst being held captive by Brett. He had made her dance with him to this song. She immediately shut the stereo off but still the song played loud in her head. She turned her back on the stereo, hoping to get away from the music, but she turned right into a tall figure, it was only when she looked up that she saw who it was.

"Hi, Jo," Brett said to her.

Jo wanted to run but all she could do was scream as fear tore through her body. Brett reached out and grabbed hold of her arms and shook her hard.

"_Jo!"_

Jo opened her eyes and shot upright in bed. She tried to swat the hands holding her arms away, until she saw who it was holding onto her. As soon as she saw that it was Mac holding gently onto her wrists she burst into tears. She suddenly realised she had been having a nightmare, _another one_. She seemed to be having them all the time recently, since having returned home from the hospital after her ordeal.

Jo threw her arms around Mac and buried her head against his bare chest as she cried. "I keep having nightmares, Mac. Brett wants to kill me, I just know it." she sobbed, "I can't get him out of my head!"

"I promise you I won't let him hurt you." Mac told her as he held her in his arms.

Mac held onto Jo until she fell asleep in his arms once more. Then he too fell back asleep, blissfully unaware that he and Jo were being watched through a small gap in the curtain, by someone standing on the fire escape… _Brett…_

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading please review and also let me know what's going on in the show, please, please, please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks to all those of you reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me. Sorry it's taken a while to update but I've moved house and haven't got proper internet access yet but hopefully will have soon, I'm visiting my parents this weekend so am using their internet to update now.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on CSI: NY**

**Chapter 10**

Mac, Jo, Adam, Danny and Lindsey were all sat around the conference table, discussing what evidence they had on their newest case. A woman had been found raped and murdered in an alley. The cause of death was obvious as more than a dozen knife wounds covered the practically naked woman's body, but the fatal blow had been to the neck from which the knife had remained lodged.

"Hawkes was able to run a partial print from the weapon. It's _barely_ a print so getting a match will be a long process." Mac announced.

"Unless we get lucky." Adam said.

Jo could only smile at the young tech. She loved how he always tried to look on the bright side. She wished she could be more like that. "Flack is going back over old unsolved cases from recent years that occurred in the area, seeing if there are any similarities. There's a good chance this isn't our perps first kill." she said to the team.

"I agree, the brutality of the murder, the rape. Sid said had she survived she would have needed extensive surgery to repair the damage he did to her, probably would have took years. She would never have been able to have children again." Lindsay said sadly.

"Her husband said they had two children, boy and a girl aged five and three." Danny said glumly, "They were trying for baby number three."

Lindsey reached under the table and placed her hand on top of her husbands, she turned to smile at him and Danny smiled right back at her before they turned and listened to Mac.

"This case is already on the news," Mac began.

"I'm not surprised." Lindsey scoffed, "The scene was swarming with reporters."

"Well hopefully it will persuade women to stay indoors until we catch whoever is doing this." Mac said.

"And if it doesn't?" Danny asked.

"If it doesn't…we should be prepared for the next victim because I don't think our perp is done yet." Mac said.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo and Mac were sat in a coffee shop across the street from the crime building. It was easier to be here than it was to have a coffee together back at the crime building café. There weren't asmany people in the small coffee shop, just another couple in the corner who were paying attention to no one but each other, an obvious business man in a very expensive looking suit, two women chatting loudly over their coffee and a man in a baseball cap reading the paper.

"Doesn't it make you feel like a couple of teenage forbidden lovers running around hiding what we have from the others?" Jo said to Mac before taking a sip of her coffee.

"We're not forbidden lovers, Jo." he told her.

"Pity, it was kind of a turn on thinking that we were." she said with a seductive look in her eyes that made Mac go weak at the knees.

"I thought you agreed that it was best to keep it a secret for now?"

"I did, I do… I just wish we didn't have to sneak off out of the crime lab building just so that we can hold hands." Jo replied.

Mac smiled at her then glanced down at his hands which were hugging his mug of coffee, "Jo, we're not holding hands." he told her.

Jo laughed and reached out and peeled his hand away from his mug and held it between her hands. Mac smiled again at her and then took hold of her hand with his other, enveloping her hand between his. He brought her hands up to his lips and sweetly kissed them in turn. "I promise you next time you just want to hold hands we won't leave the building." he said.

Jo could only smile back at him.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo was in Mac's apartment, sat on his couch and loving just how comfortable it was. She had thought her own was comfortable but Mac's was like sitting on a cloud. "I may never get off this couch again." she said to Mac as he walked over to her from the kitchen carrying two fresh glasses of merlot.

"That's a shame because I was going to take you out for a meal at the Italian tomorrow night, but if you'd rather stay on my couch I could always go alone."

"Shut-up and sit down Mac Taylor." Jo said playfully as she took one of the glasses of wine from him and then grabbed his wrist and pulled him down onto the couch with her.

As soon as he was seated she shuffled closer to him and snuggled into his side. Mac wrapped an arm around her and held her gently. He placed a soft kiss on her head and said, "I like spending time you like this. To be totally honest after Claire I didn't think I would ever want to let myself fall in love again."

Jo suddenly sat up and turned to look at Mac, a sort of confused look was plastered over her face. "What are you saying, Mac?" she asked.

"I'm saying that I love you, Jo." he said, hoping it wasn't too soon for him to say it, but it wasn't like him loving her was a new thing. He had pretty much fallen in love with her from the first moment he had seen her.

Jo smiled and then leaned forward and kissed Mac passionately. She then pulled back and replied, "I love you too, Mac."

**~0~0~**

Jo and Mac where lay in bed, they were both trying to catch their breaths after making love, both of them still coming down from the high it had taken them too. Mac was placing soft kisses on Jo's lips as their bodies remained as one. He moved his kisses to her cheeks, her forehead and then the tip of her nose.

Jo could only laugh slightly before she kissed him back, the same way he had just kissed her. Mac moved to lie beside Jo who snuggled into his side, her head resting on his chest. The sound of his heart beating was soothing to her. Mac knew it was what she was listening too and he kissed the top of her head before he wrapped both his arms around her. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

Once more as they lay there asleep they were completely unaware that they were being watched. _Brett stood there staring at Jo._ She had completely bewitched him, he had fallen for her completely and seeing Mac have her was like some sort of cruel torture. _He wanted her_, and if he couldn't…then no one else would have her either, this he swore to.

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for the reviews and to all those reading. I still haven't seen much of the new series. Is Christine still hanging around like a bad smell? Sorry this has taken longer to update than I said it would, I still haven't got round to getting proper internet in my new house.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on CSI: NY.**

**Chapter 11**

Jo added some finishing touches to her hair which hung lose around her face and down her back. Her fringe was flicked to the side like she usually did. It didn't look like she had done anything much with her hair but she had in fact spent over and hour blow drying and styling it ready for her date with Mac.

She grabbed her lip gloss and added a little more before dropping it into her clutch bag along with some other things. She stood up from her dressing table and smoothed out her little black dress. She only owned a couple of dresses but this one was her favourite. It was her only LBD and she hardly ever got the chance to wear it. _She just hoped Mac would like it too._

She slipped into a pair of black heels and was then finally ready. She grabbed a black chiffon shawl off the bed and her bag off the dressing table and headed out of her bedroom. She walked across the living room and had to smile when she heard Ellie speak up, "Wow, Mom, you look amazing!" she said.

Jo walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek, "Thank you, honey. I can't remember the last time I wore a dress."

"Cousin Casey's wedding, and that was six years ago." Ellie told her.

"Really….guess I should go out more often then."

"Where are you going?" Ellie asked curiously.

"Just out for a meal with a friend." she said, it was kind of the truth.

"Which friend?" Ellie quizzed.

"My, my, aren't we nosey?" Jo said playfully.

"I just like to know where you are at all times." Ellie joked, mocking Jo's _"mom tone"_ when she was saying the same thing to Ellie when she went out with friends.

Jo just smiled at her daughter as the sitter walked into the living room carrying two bottles of fruit flavoured water for her and Ellie and a big bowl of popcorn for them to share.

"Ellie, be good for Natasha, go to bed when she says." Jo said.

"Yes, Mom…" Ellie complained.

"We'll be fine, Jo," Natasha said, "and for the record you look awesome."

"Thanks Natasha." Jo said before she checked her watch. "I had better get going before I'm late."

"See you later!" both Ellie and Natasha called out to Jo as she left.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo and Mac were sat at a corner table in the corner of the Italian restaurant. They had ordered the Agnello Scottadita, _aka_ burnt fingers. They had enjoyed them but had been unable not to kiss each other in the privacy of their corner table, so when they had come to eat their food they hadn't actually burnt their fingers.

After their main course they had shared a Tiramisu dessert and had then finished off a bottle of merlot. They both decided that they would go back to Jo's place, that the sitter would leave and that they would continue their date there.

Jo knew Ellie would be in bed and asleep by the time they got home and she was kind of glad for it. She had no idea how Ellie would take the news that she was dating, she had never really dated seriously in the past and when she did she wouldn't take her date home unless she knew Ellie or Tyler weren't home. To her it didn't seem fair to take someone home who she wasn't planning on making a true commitment too, but with Mac it was different.

By the time they made it to Jo's apartment all Mac or Jo wanted to do was curl up on the couch with one another. When they went in Natasha was sitting on the couch, as soon as she saw Jo had brought her date back with her she shut off the TV and grabbed her bag.

Jo pulled some money out of her bag and handed it to Natasha with a smile as she walked over to her. "Everything okay?" Jo asked her.

"Everything is fine. Ellie was an angel, as usual." Natasha told her.

"Good. Thanks so much for having her."

"Anytime," Natasha said as she walked over to the door, "Good night." she said in a sing-song voice and a huge grin on her face that made Jo blush.

Jo wished her a goodnight and closed the door behind her. She then slowly turned to face Mac who had a huge smile on his face. "What are the chances she knows someone at the lab?"

"Slim." Mac replied, "But stranger things have happened."

"We'd be the talk of the lab." Jo said as she walked over to the couch, sat down and kicked off her heels.

She turned to face Mac, ready to say something to him but Mac's lips met hers and he kissed her passionately. Jo never wanted the kiss to end but it did when they heard, "I knew it!"

Jo and Mac pulled away from each other and turned to face Ellie who was stood in the doorway with a knowing look on her face. "I totally just won an easy twenty bucks." she gleamed.

"I beg your pardon?" Jo asked.

"Me and Tyler had a bet going. I bet you two were together, Tyler thought it was Flack you were seeing."

"Don Flack?" Mac questioned.

"The really hot detective." Ellie replied.

"Ellie!" Jo shrieked.

"Well he is…. Anyway I just got up to get a glass of water then I'm going back to bed, I'm shattered." she said, yawning, as she wandered into the kitchen.

Jo just burst out laughing and buried her face in Mac's chest. She felt like a naughty school girl caught smooching behind the bike sheds by the head teacher. Mac could only laugh with her and then wrap his arm around her and hold her close.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo was walking alongside Ellie as they made their way to her school. Jo always walked her to school and always would for as long as Ellie would allow it. They had bought a fruit juice from a fresh juice stall and as Ellie sipped hers Jo spoke on the phone to Mac.

"_Where are you now?" she asked him._

_Mac was walking down the street too, on his way to the coffee shop across from the lab._ "I am about to get coffee before I go into the lab. Want me to pick you up anything?"

"_**Something sweet, like a doughnut with chocolate icing and lots and lots chocolate sprinkles?"**_ Jo replied. _**"Or one of those gooey brownie's, I love them."**_

Mac just smiled as he walked over to the counter. He ordered his coffee and got Jo a doughnut and a brownie, he would let her chose which one she wanted when she got to the lab. "I'll see you at the lab, meet me in my office and I'll have a coffee and a sweet surprise waiting for you." he said to her.

"_**Sounds fab, see you soon."**_ Jo replied before she hung up.

Mac put the phone down on the counter and reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change. He counted out the right money and handed it over. He then picked up his coffees and the cakes and left the coffee shop.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac was stood in his office when Danny walked in, he seemed to be in a slight panic but before Mac could ask what was wrong Danny said, "Mac, what the hell! I've been trying to call you for the last fifteen minutes. Why aren't you answering your phone?"

Mac began searching his pockets for his phone. He suddenly remembered having been on it in the coffee shop. Feeling the loose change in his pockets made him remember putting his phone down so he could pay the waitress.

"I think I must have left it in the coffee shop."

"Well we can pick it up on our way out." Danny told him.

"Way out to where?" Mac asked.

"To our newest crime scene." Danny told him before he walked out.

Mac put the bag with the cakes in the middle of his desk. He'd leave them there for Jo when she got in but right now he knew he had to go to the crime scene. He just knew from Danny's tone that their perp had struck again.

**~0~0~0~0~**

_**I'm almost in the lift, on my way up to your office**_. That was the text Jo sent to Mac just before she came to a stop by the elevator. A moment later she got a reply. **"Meet me on the top floor. Told you we wouldn't have to go out of the building next time you wanted to hold hands."**

Jo smiled and when she finally stepped into the elevator she pushed the button for the top floor. As she made her way up she remembered how the offices on the top floor were empty as they were being renovated. She could only smile as it meant that she and Mac would have the entire floor to themselves.

When the elevator came to a stop she stepped out of it. The floor was made up of glass offices just like the lab was. As she walked along the corridor past the offices Jo could see that there were still some desks and chairs left on the floor but most where covered in grubby looking dust sheets. Pots of paint and other D.I.Y things that Jo would never in her life use were sat on the desks.

Jo rightly assumed that the contractor's renovating the place had a day off and so realised why Mac had chosen it to meet up in. She heard a slight noise and followed the sound with a smile on her face to the end of the corridor. _She stopped and smiled at what she saw._ A table was beautifully laid up with candles and a single red rose in a tall glass vase. There was a bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket and Jo was slightly confused as she knew neither she nor Mac could drink whilst still on shift.

She spun round on her heels when she heard another sound coming from behind her. "Mac!" she called out. "Mac, where are you?" she called out as she followed another sound.

"Mac, what are you playing at?" she asked as she walked into an office where the sound had come from. She almost jumped out of her skin to see a worker crouched down by an electrical socket, a tool box open in front of him. "I'm so sorry I thought you were someone else." she explained.

The worker never turned to look at her but nodded his head slightly.

"Have you seen a man up here, dark hair, wearing a suit and…?" she began to ask.

"No." The worker told her matter-of-factly.

"Okay…" Jo replied before she turned to walk out.

"No one up here but me…." The work man called out to her. His voice froze her to the spot. There was a familiarity to it that made Jo's blood run cold. "There's no one up here but me and you, Jo."

Jo knew in a heartbeat who he voice belonged to, Brett. As if her head couldn't quite believe it she slowly turned to face him. She found him standing right behind her, a gun in his hand. "Hi, Jo." he said.

Without wasting another second Jo took off running but she had barely taken a few steps when she felt a sharp pain hit her in the side. She stopped running and slumped against the wall as electricity shot through her body. She felt her legs give out from under her and fell hard to the floor. She rolled onto her side as the pain continued. The taser gun crackling as the electricity continued to spread over her.

Finally Brett took his hand off the trigger. Jo looked up at him with her vision blurred. In seconds everything went black as she let the pain send her into unconsciousness. Brett threw the taser down onto a nearby desk. He then reached down and scooped Jo up. He carried her with ease into one of the offices and laid her down on a desk.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Mac's cell phone. He had barely believed his luck when Mac had walked out of the coffee shop, leaving it on the counter. He had been following Mac all morning. He had taken the phone and that was when he knew he would use it to trick Jo. He just had to see her again and was happy to do so by any means possible.

He reached down and brushed a lock of hair back off her face, he loved how soft her hair was. He then tenderly ran his hand down across her cheek, her jaw and down her neck and across the top swell of her breasts. He bent down over her, his lips mere inches from hers. He could barely control his breathing. It was such a rush for him, being so close to her again. He was desperate to kiss her, but he wouldn't yet. He had so much planned, and he needed her awake before his plans could really begin….

**TBC**

**Thanks for reading, please review and let me know what you think. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks so much for the reviews. I've added more to this chapter and have managed to make this story a few more chapters long now.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine if you've seen them on CSI: NY**

**Chapter 12**

Mac was at one of the bloodiest crime scenes he had seen in a while. It certainly wasn't one he was going to forget about anytime soon.

"We're gonna need some extra hands here, Mac. It's gonna take us hours to work through all this blood, in which time we're gonna start to lose our crime scene." Danny said.

Mac looked away from the bloodied alley floor and up at the blackening sky. He knew Danny was right, the sky was full of heavy black rain clouds. "You're right. I'm going to call in for extra hands out here."

"Lindsay and Hawkes are at another scene across town." Danny pointed out.

"We need Jo and Adam out here. Can I use your phone?" Mac asked the younger CSI.

Danny passed Mac his cell phone and went straight back to sorting through the blood. He looked up just a moment later as Mac cursed, "What is it?" he asked.

"Jo still has her phone off. I'll try Adam….What the hell is Jo playing at?" Mac was unable to understand why her phone was switched off.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo groaned in pain as she woke up. She rolled her head to the side and winced at the pain it caused her. She opened her eyes a little but the sunlight pouring in through the windows hurt as much as the taser gun had…._the taser gun_. Remembering just who had used the weapon on her caused Jo to try and sit upright, but with a painful jolt to her limbs and joints she quickly found she was tied to a desk.

Her arms were splayed above her head and tied to the legs of the desk and her legs found themselves in the same vulnerable position. She almost burst into tears when she saw that she no longer had the jeans and t-shirt on that she had been wearing earlier, she was now wearing a little black dress, similar to the one she owned but this one showed much more cleavage than she liked.

It made her feel sick to the pit of her stomach that it had been Brett who had stripped her and re-dressed her. Angry, and without wasting another second she began tugging on the rope. She knew she had to get free. She tried twisting her body round as much as was possible and tried to put all her strength behind pulling free but it was no use, the rope used just cut into her flesh. She couldn't help but cry out in defeat.

Her cry was cut short when she heard a bang from outside of the office she was in. Knowing she wasn't going anywhere yet she lay back down on the desk and closed her eyes. She was hoping she could pretend to still be unconscious, and praying it would make Brett leave her alone.

She lay perfectly still and managed to control her breathing enough to convincingly pass as being unconscious. She heard Brett walk into the room, he paused in the doorway and Jo could feel his eyes roaming over her body. She was desperate to open her eyes, to look at him, but she didn't.

It was silent in the room until she heard him begin to walk around her, the soles of his shoes squeaked against the floor as he circled her, like a vulture swooping over a kill. It took every ounce of strength she had not to jump out of her skin when she felt his hand touch her thigh, his long fingers wrapping round her inner thigh. She wanted more than anything to swat his hand away. He slowly ran his hand right down her leg until his hand came over the rope around her ankle. She could barely stop herself from shaking as she felt him untie the rope. She had no idea why he was doing it but she let him. Next he moved to untie her other ankle, quickly followed by her left wrist. As he stepped over to her right wrist he trailed his fingers across her chest, across the top swell of her breast.

Jo felt tears burning in her eyes. She hated his touch, she hated everything about him, finally she felt his fingers trail down her arm and as he untied the final bit of rope tying her down he began to hum a familiar tune, _Stars by Simply Red_. It was a song that haunted her.

The instant she felt the rope fall free from her wrist Jo bolted upright and sprang off of the table. The quick movement left her head dizzy and her legs seemed numb, her whole body was as heavy as lead and she tried to run but her body seemed to ignore her brains command. She grabbed hold of the wall and hoped to use it to keep herself upright but with a loud cheer Brett suddenly wrapped his arms tight around her body. His arms were locked over her ribs as he held her body close to his.

"Where are you going, Jo? The funs not even begun yet…" he said as he used his body to push her out of the office and down the corridor.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac and Danny were now working with members of the graveyard shift to try and work through their crime scene. Adam had also joined them but he had no information for Mac on where Jo was. Mac had become worried when Adam had confessed that he hadn't seen Jo all morning and this only made Mac worry more.

He hated that he had no idea where she was. When he had last spoken to her she had been fine so he couldn't understand why she was now unreachable. It was Danny who had noticed first that Mac was clearly distracted.

"Mac, why don't you go back to the office and find out where she is?" Danny said to Mac without looking away from the swab he was taking.

"Jo's a grown woman, I'm sure she's fine." Mac replied.

"I have no doubt that Jo can look after herself, it's you I'm worried about, you keep worrying like this and you're gonna end up having a heart attack. We're nearly done here now anyway."

"I can't go yet,"

"Just go!" Danny snapped.

Mac thought about staying for a moment but after glancing round and seeing that the scene was well under control her decided Danny was right. "Fine, but call me… get in touch if you need me." He said hating that he didn't have his cell phone.

"Will do!" Danny called to him as he headed off down the corridor and towards his car.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo had been unable to stop Brett from tying her to a chair. She was still stunned as she stared at the desk he had transformed into a make-shift dinner table. There was a tall candelabrum in the middle of it with a candle flickering away in it. The place in front of Jo was set up just like how they did in any fancy restaurant. It's why she thought it a little ironic that Brett was serving her cold Chinese food from takeaway boxes.

He finished loading up her plate with food and then moved to sit down opposite her while he filled his own plate with food. Jo glanced down at the large glass of white wine in front of her. She would much prefer red wine, _something Mac knew about her_, but either way she would happily take a long swing of the stuff now in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Eat!" Brett said to her with his own mouth full of food.

"That would be a lot easier to do if I wasn't tied down." she snapped at him, trying to hold her wrists up from the arms of the chair she was tied down to. She could barely pull her wrist more than a few centremetres away from the chair because the rope was so tight.

"Fair enough." he said as he pushed himself up and moved over to just loosen one of the wrists, enough so that she could eat but that she couldn't escape.

Jo watched him sit back down and continue eating, all she do was glare at him. She wondered if she could grab the knife or fork off the table without Brett noticing. She hoped if she could she would have the opportunity to use it against him.

"Jo, why don't you eat your food and stop thinking of ways to use the cutlery against me, its not going to happen."

Jo could only continue to glare at Brett, then sounding more confident than she felt she said, "I'm not eating this."

"Jo, please, just play along, will you? Eat the food, drink the wine; this is our first real date after all."

Jo could only scoff, "You think this is a date?!" she yelled. A moment later the psychologist in her told her to play this all differently. "Brett, you know this is no way to get me to go on a date with you." she said, talking as calmly as her racing heart would allow.

She almost jumped out of her chair when Brett slammed his fist down on the table, clutching the fork tightly within his grasp. His eyes were dark and cold as he glared at her. "Eat!" he growled at her.

"No, Brett, please, just let me go. You know this isn't a real date, you know this means nothing to me." she said trying to make him see sense.

Brett wasn't about to see sense though, he was too furious with her for refusing to play along. Jo could only brace herself for what was to come as Brett pushed himself out of his chair and stormed over to her. She was braced but was unable not to yelp in pain as Brett knotted his fist into her hair and yanked her head backwards, a moment later his palm slammed down over her mouth, full of food which he forced into her mouth.

"Eat!" he yelled before he did the same again, his palm connecting hard against her lips. The third time he did it she felt her lip bust open and the taste of food in her mouth was mixed with the metallic taste of her blood.

One more mouthful of food left Brett feeling satisfied. He grabbed the glass of wine and held it in front of Jo's face, "Drink?" he asked, his tone held a warning and Jo knew even if she refused she would indeed be having some wine to drink. Her only option was to nod slightly.

She wanted to reach out and take hold of the wine but Brett brought it roughly to her lips and spilled some of the bitter tasting wine into her mouth, he continued to do so until Jo began to choke. Only then did he let go of her hair. He finished the glass of wine off himself in one big gulp and slammed the glass down on the table smashing it as he did so. He ignored this fact and grabbed a napkin.

He used it to roughly wipe Jo's face and neck. He then quickly swatted some spilled food off her dress. "You could have made this real easy on yourself, Jo. All I wanted was to have a nice relaxing time with you but you just seem intent on pissing me off!" he snapped.

He grabbed hold of her chair and twisted it round so they were face to face. He leaned in so his face was practically touching hers as he growled, "Is that what you like, Jo?! Do you like to make men angry, do you like what it makes them do to you?! Do you?!" he bellowed at her before he shoved his hand up her dress and into her crotch.

"You like it rough?!" he yelled.

"Get off me!" she cried, her voice breaking with emotion.

Brett snapped his hand away and then moved in closer so the side of his face was pressed up against hers, "Well then it's no wonder you don't like me when I'm doing all this nice stuff for you, but if its anger you want, then you'll have it." he told her.

He pulled back to glare at her for a moment but then he quickly swung his head forward. His skull connected hard with Jo's and with a grunt of pain she was knocked into a world of blackness.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac stepped out of the elevator and dashed towards Jo's office. When a tech tried to speak to him he simply held his hand up to them and said, "Not now!" He jogged the rest of the way to Jo's office, not wanting to be stopped by anyone else.

The moment he reached it he knew something was up. There was no sign what-so-ever that Jo had been into her office and it was always her first stop so she could dump her bag and jacket. He moved right over to her desk and grabbed her phone, he dialled her number in and waited and waited as it rang, it seemed to go on forever, but at least it was now ringing. However he wasn't sure if it made him more worried when she still didn't answer.

The moment it went to voicemail he hung up and rang again.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Brett stared down at Jo's phone in his hands. He had turned it on out of curiosity, he wanted to search thought it, all of it. However, having it on meant that Mac had bombarded it with calls. Brett was just looking at the message stating the amount of missed calls when he heard Jo groan as she came back into the world of consciousness.

She hadn't been out of it long at all, and so Brett's temper had barely died down, and Mac's calls had only added to his temper, as had the loving text messages that they had sent to one another, messages he had gone through and deleted.

"Glad you're awake!" he snapped at Jo. "I can't decide whether or not to get Mac up here, let him join in the fun, of course it would only last a moment before I would kill him, but maybe I'll kill you first, slowly and in front of Mac…." Brett looked at Jo with his eyes wide open and a confused look on his face, "I just can't decide." he concluded.

"Leave him out of this!" Jo growled.

"You brought him into it, Jo, the moment you two started screwing around. I think it's only fair he join the party."

**TBC**

**Thanks so much for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I want to say a huge thanks to everyone reading and reviewing. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Chapter 13**

Jo was desperately trying to free herself from the chair as Brett paced around the room. He had told her that Mac was going to become involved in this mess and that scared the hell out her. She didn't want him involved; she didn't want him to have anything to do with this. She couldn't stand the thought that it would put him in danger, _get him hurt._

"How shall we get him up here with us, Jo?" Brett asked.

Jo ignored him and continued trying to pull on her restraints, she didn't care if he saw her trying to escape or not. She figured if he was to see her it would distract him from getting Mac to join them, but part of her hoped Mac would have realised by now that she was missing and so if he did come and join them he would not do so alone.

"I don't want him to bring any back up with him, so I wonder what I can say to make him come alone," Brett said as if reading her thoughts. He leant down in Jo's face, "I wonder if he cares about you enough to risk coming alone, because if I see him step out of that elevator with anyone else then I will kill you, then I will kill him and anyone else who is with him."

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac was in his car, he was about to go and check Jo's apartment, to see if for whatever reason she had returned there. He'd rung everyone he could think of and was becoming desperate. He had just placed his keys in the ignition when his cell phone began to ring, the moment he saw Jo's name appear as caller ID he answered with a sigh of relief.

"Jo, where in the hell have you been!? I've been calling you for hours, have you suddenly forgotten how to answer your damn cell phone!?" he barked.

"Is that really anyway to speak to a lady?" a voice that wasn't Jo asked Mac.

Mac's heart skipped a beat and for a moment his brain seemed to stop functioning as panic spread through his body. "Where is she?" he growled through gritted teeth.

"She's here, but she's a little tied up at the moment." Brett told him.

"I want to see her."

"You can, but only you."

"Where?" Mac asked, trying to mask his anger.

"Oh, we're in the building, but I swear Mac, if I see you step off the elevator and you're not alone, I will blow Jo's brains out before you even spot where she is."

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac's heart was pounding in his chest as he rode the elevator up. It finally came to a stop and the hesitation between the doors opening seemed to go on for hours but finally, and slower than any elevators doors had ever done so, they opened.

Mac stepped out of the elevator and stared right down through the corridor. Right at the end of it, in an office and tied to a chair he saw Jo. He went charging towards her but he only made it past the first office on his right when he was struck hard on the head.

Jo watched as he hit the floor. She had tried warning him but the gag in her mouth muted her desperate calls. She tried to beg Brett not to hit Mac again but he didn't hear her and she could only watch as Brett slammed the butt of the gun against his head again.

She felt tears stinging her eyes as she watched Brett drag an unconscious Mac down the corridor towards her. He dragged him into the office and struggled to pull him up into the chair he had previously occupied. Jo's tears continued to fall as she tried to pull free of the rope tying her down.

"Now this is a real party." Brett said as he finished tying Mac up. "I probably shouldn't have hit him so hard, now we have to wait for him to wake up."

"You sick fuck!" Jo growled at him through her gag.

"I'm sorry I can't hear you!?" he growled back at her as he stormed over to her and ripped the gag from her mouth."

"You sick fuck!" she roared at him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because of you!" he yelled in her face, "Ever since the day I met you, you have been driving me crazy. I can't get you out of my head, Jo, I am obsessed with you and I hate that he has touched you the way only I should be able to."

Jo could see the look in his face, the determination his words held. It was something that terrified her. Both she and Brett glanced over at Mac as he groaned and began to wake.

"Mac, Mac are you okay?" Jo called out.

The sound of Brett slapping her hard across the face with the back of his hand echoed around the office. The anger it fuelled within Mac was enough to cause adrenaline to surge through his body and fully wake him up but it did nothing to relieve the throbbing pain in his head.

"You touch her again and you will regret it." Mac warned him.

"Oh really, you're tied up, Mac, so what you going to do about it?" Brett mocked.

"Come on, Brett, just let her go."

"Shut-up!"

"I'll stay here, whatever it is you want…" Mac began.

"The only thing I want from you is to watch what I'm going to do to Jo, once she's dead then I'll kill you!" Brett growled at him as he grabbed hold of the arms of the chair Mac was tied to and leaned in close to him.

"Why do you want to kill her? Why did you even come back here looking for her when we had no idea where you were, why show up here and risk us catching you?" Mac questioned as Brett remained in his face.

"Because I wanted to be caught, but not before I've tortured Jo some more, make you suffer watching her die, slowly and painfully."

"You love her, don't you?" Mac asked knowingly.

"I wouldn't call it love…to be honest, Mac, I truly have no idea what I'd call it, but all I know is if I can't have her then no one else will."

Suddenly Brett felt something hard crash down against his head. He turned around in time to see Jo swing the bottle of wine at him again, this time he was able to grab it mid-air and pull it from her grasp. He threw it across the room where it slammed against a wall and shattered. He had no idea how Jo had got free but he certainly didn't appreciate being hit across the back of his head by her.

She threw a quick and hard punch into his face, the crunch in her hand was sickening but it was nowhere near as painful as the blow Brett returned to her. His huge fist slammed into her face, knocking her right into the wall behind her. Before she could turn to face him she felt a familiar pain serge through her body. She knew it was the taser gun and the shock Brett gave her from it never seemed to end; all she could do was cy out in agony.

"Damn-it you'll kill her!" Mac bellowed at Brett. "Stop!"

A moment later Brett let go of the trigger. Jo whimpered in pain as she tried to stay standing but with nothing to grip onto on the wall she was standing against she slid down until she was almost on her knees, it was then that Brett moved over to her and took hold of her.

Jo felt like she no longer had control over her body, she was in too much pain and her limbs which felt like lead seemed completely useless. Brett easily supported her as he moved over to a small cd player that Jo hadn't even noticed was there. He hit play and once more Jo whimpered as she heard the song that began to play. It truly did haunt her and she was sure this was Brett's reasoning for it.

_Anyone who ever held you  
Would tell you the way I'm feeling  
Anyone who ever wanted you  
Would try to tell you what I feel inside_

Brett held Jo close against his body and softy swayed with her as he danced them around the office. All Mac could do was watch and try to pull his wrists free. He could see the disgust on Jo's face as Brett held her tight against his body. He hated that Brett had his hands on her at all, especially as they seemed intent on roaming over Jo's body.

_The only thing I ever wanted  
Was the feeling that you ain't faking  
The only one you ever thought about  
Wait a minute can't you see that I_

_I wanna fall from the stars  
Straight into your arms  
I, I feel you  
I hope you comprehend_

The harder Mac tried to pull free of the rope around his wrists the more it cut into his flesh, he could see similar wounds on Jo's wrists and knew she had gone through the same pain to break free.

_For the man who tried to hurt you  
He's explaining the way I'm feeling  
For all the jealousy I caused you  
States the reason why I'm trying to hide  
As for all the things you taught me  
It sends my future into clearer dimensions  
You'll never know how much you hurt me  
Stay a minute can't you see that I_

_I wanna fall from the stars_

Mac had only taken his eyes off Jo for a minute when he heard a thud and heard Jo yelp in pain. Brett had spun her round and slammed her against a wall, sandwiching her between his body and the wall. His heart began to pound loudly in his chest as he saw Brett grab the bottom of Jo's dress and pull it up slightly. Brett then began to tug at his belt and Mac knew if he didn't break free soon he was about to witness Brett rape Jo.

**TBC**

**Thanks so much for reading. Will Mac be able to escape in time? Please review and let me know what you think.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry this has taken so long to update. I dropped my computer a couple of weeks ago and it broke and gone with it is any writing I had including chapters that weren't quite done but weren't far off completion. To say I was devastated was an understatement. So I'm hoping to somehow get my info off my old computer and have had another one repaired (because it cost less and was easier to fix) so I've had to write up this chapter again. Once more I'm really sorry and I hope you like this chapter. Not much of this story left now.**

_**Recap of last chapter: **_**Jo had found herself back in the clutches of Brett, the crazy murder who had become obsessed with her after carjacking her. Jo escaped the first time but now she may not be so lucky and Mac has been caught up in the mess too. No one else knows the danger the two are in and Mac is tied up and if he can't break free about to watch Brett rape Jo in front of him.**

**Chapter 14**

Mac was desperate to escape from the chair he was tied to. He could hear Jo whimpering as Brett's hands roamed roughly over her body. He could feel his binds cutting into his flesh, could feel his warm blood seeping from the wounds they had caused. Mac simply chose to ignore the pain and only thought about getting free so he could help Jo. So he could save her from what he knew would be a brutal rape.

He had to look up, panic flooding over his body, when he heard Jo yelp in pain. He could only watch Brett grinding up against Jo, his hand shoved right up her dress as he assaulted her. "Damn-it, Brett, get off her!" he yelled angrily.

Brett ignored him as he kissed Jo's neck and pushed another finger into her. "Get off me!" she growled at him.

"Shut-up!" Brett roared at her.

Jo tried to push her body away from the wall, but it was no good. Brett was too strong compared to her. Annoyed by her attempts to get away from him he tangled his hand up in her hair and then thrust her head forward, slamming it hard against the wall. Jo was knocked uncurious straight away. Before she could slump to the floor Brett caught her and slung her over his shoulder.

Mac watched him carry her over to the table where not long before Brett had sat with Jo to eat food and drink wine. With one quick swipe of his arm he knocked everything onto the floor then dropped Jo down onto the table. He slowly moved his arms down her body before grabbing her legs and pulling her to the edge of the table. He stood between her legs and then turned to face Mac with a smirk on his face.

"As soon as I fuck her I'll kill her, then I'll kill you." Brett told Mac.

Mac glared angrily at him as he continued pulling on his binds. He watched as Brett leaned in over Jo who could only whimper and moan as she very slowly came round from unconsciousness. Mac couldn't help but think if he couldn't get free in a minute it would be better for Jo if she remained unconscious, so she wouldn't be awake throughout her rape. _Then he felt the binds around his left wrist come free. _

Brett trailed sloppy wet kisses over Jo's neck and down across her chest. His hands continued to roam over her body. He was ready, ready to thrust himself into her, _just the thought of it brought him close to the edge. _He knew she'd be perfect. He'd been dreaming about it since the day she had been rescued from him. Now his dreams were about to come true.

He suddenly cried out in pain as he felt something smash down over his head and upper back. As he fell to the floor groaning in pain Mac brought down the remains of the chair, from which he had escaped, over his head again. Mac was about to hit him again when Brett kicked his legs from underneath him. Mac quickly kicked out, hitting Brett square in the face with his boot. He tried to push himself up but then Brett kicked him in the face.

His face was in agony and he knew his nose was bleeding, but again he ignored his own pain and just thought about stopping Brett and getting Jo to safety.

Both he and Brett climbed to their feet, Brett that little bit quicker. Mac had barely steadied himself on his feet when Brett charged at him and tackled him round the waist, forcing him back and slamming him into the wall behind. The sound of his shoulder blades being crunched against the wall sickened Mac but he pushed the sound out of his head and managed to grab Brett around the neck, he pulled hard on him, getting Brett to let go of him. Brett fell to the floor by Mac's feet and just as Mac was about to kick him he reached out and pulled Mac's legs from under him.

Mac fell down and hit his head hard against the floor. Brett quickly scrambled over him and began punching him over and over again. He began to hit Mac in the face, delivering hard quick punches. He pulled his arm back ready to throw the hardest punch, one that would without a doubt cause severe damage to Mac's skull. Just as he was about to swing his arm down there was a loud bang.

Brett looked down at his chest where a small red stain was beginning to grow on his shirt, his blood seeped through the thin cloth and onto Mac who lay beaten and bloodied beneath him. Mac pushed Brett off him and looked up to see Jo holding a gun, her hand trembling.

Mac slowly began to push himself up; it was hard to do as his whole body ached. Jo slowly and shakily walked over to him and helped him steady himself on his feet. Jo never stopped aiming the gun at Brett, not even as he lay dying, choking on his own blood. Mac had to peel the gun out of her shaking hand. He then wrapped an arm around her and allowed her to lean into him as she buried her face into his chest and cried.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Mac was sat on a hospital bed, Danny and Flack stood beside his bed. Mac looked much less bloodied since the nurses had fixed him up. His face was covered in angry bruises that would only grow to look worse before they got better. As well as bruising to the face he had two fractured ribs and more bruising over his torso. He had a small but deep cut above his eye but nothing that three butterfly stitches wouldn't heal with time.

The nurse seeing to his checks finished up and walked out of the cubicle leaving Mac alone with Danny and Flack. "How you feeling, Boss?" Danny asked.

"I'm fine, how's Jo doing?" he asked.

"Lindsay's with her now." Danny informed him. "Because she was unconscious they insisted on doing a rape exam. Jo was reluctant but she's doing one anyway."

"To have to go though one of them in a lifetime is torture, to face that twice in so few months is just cruel. That son-of-a-bitch has put her through hell." Flack said.

"Well that's exactly where he's rotting now." Danny replied.

Both Mac and Flack could only agree with him. They all also shared the same concern for their friend. All of them silently promised that without a doubt they would be there for her if needed, and if they were honest with themselves they knew she would need their help and support eventually.

**~0~0~0~0~**

Jo released the breath she had been holding as the nurse finished up her exam. "You can sit up now." the nurse told Jo as she stood up at the foot of Jo's bed.

Jo just nodded and did as she was told. "You did really well." the nurse told her, offering a friendly smile before she walked out.

Jo appreciated her words but they weren't of any real comfort. She wiped away her tears just in time as Lindsay suddenly called through the curtain "Knock, knock!"

"Come in." Jo said with a smile.

Lindsay stepped in with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cup of tea in the other for Jo. "Figured you would probably need this?" Lindsay said as she handed the cup to Jo.

"Like oxygen!" Jo said as she happily and eagerly took the cup from her and took a sip. It was amazing, never had she enjoyed a cup of tea more.

Lindsay sat down on the end of Jo's bed and took a sip of her coffee before turning to face Jo and asking, "Do you feel like telling me what happened?" She had to know as it was part of the case.

"No…but I will." she replied.

"Jo, you don't have to talk about it now. It can wait until tomorrow or the day after, or the day after that; whenever you're ready." Lindsay said, wanting Jo to know she wouldn't be pressured.

"Thank you," Jo said to her. She wasn't ready to talk now. All she wanted to do was go home, stand under the shower for hours and wipe away all traces of Brett from her body.

**~0~0~0~0~**

_**One week later**_

Jo was lay in bed. She wasn't totally asleep, she hadn't slept well since the night of the attack at the crime lab. She turned over and tried to force herself to sleep. _She was so exhausted! _She was just beginning to think she might be able to drift off when she heard a floorboard creak from outside her bedroom. She was home alone tonight so she knew it wasn't Ellie, she was staying over at a friends house.

She sat up in bed, trying to build up the courage to take her gun out of the bedside cupboard and go investigate the sound. Before Brett she would never have felt so weak, so vulnerable. She was reaching out to the side, but never taking her eyes off the door to her bedroom, she was going to grab her gun. Just as her fingertips touched the cold wood of her bedside table the clock radio on the other side of her bed burst to life.

_I, wanna fall from the stars,_

_Straight into your arms._

_I, I feel you…._

Jo reached out and swiped the clock radio onto the floor where it shattered into pieces but still the song didn't stop playing..

"Miss me?" she was asked from beside her.

She turned to see Brett staring right at her, his skin pale from death, his lips blue., the bullet wound on his chest oozing blood. _He lunged forward, his arms ready to grab her…_

Jo sprang up in bed and had to fight to free herself from the bedding that was tangled around her body. Once free from them she climbed out of bed and left her room and went straight to Ellie's to check on her. Ellie was fast asleep, she wasn't at a sleepover like she had been in her nightmare. Jo found her daughters soft snores soothing, she could have sat in her room and listened to it all night but she didn't want to disturb her so she turned and left.

She stepped into the living room and smiled when she saw Mac lying on her couch, his eyes open and fixed on her. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked her.

Jo just shook her head, "You neither?"

"Nope," Mac replied.

He smiled at her then moved over on the couch, making enough room to the side of him for Jo to come and lie. She did so and hugged Mac's body as she let her head rest on his chest. Mac wrapped his arms protectively around her after fixing the comforter over the both of them. In one another's arms they were both able to fall asleep.

**TBC**

**Thanks so much for reading, please let me know what you think. **

**Another apology for the wait. Next one really won't be!**


End file.
